Exclusionary moments: Queer desires and migrants' sense of (un)belonging

Migration to Iceland has increased considerably in recent decades, and after the labour market was opened up to EU workers in 2006, migrants from countries in Central and Eastern Europe have become by far the largest immigrant group. The Nordic countries have increasingly been seen as a “safe space” for people with queer desires, and Iceland is no exception to that trend. This article discusses an under-researched area within queer migration studies: migrations from Central and Eastern Europe to a small population in Northern Europe, and their sense of belonging to their ethnic community, the queer community and wider Icelandic society. The overreaching theme of this study is “exclusionary moments,” while the sub-themes relate to social class (dis)identification, shame and emotional work, and participants' sense of (un)belonging. This study is based on semi-structured interviews, and argues that shame is placed on participants through differential power structures, but also highlights participants' agency within those cultural scenarios. It applies theories of affect and emotions, and the concept of a global hierarchy of value, to demonstrate how exclusionary moments materialise in everyday settings.