Over the next few months, the project will grow significantly. On 1 September 2026, two researchers will join the team. One will focus on the Kenya–UK case study, and the other will focus on the Lebanon–France case study. Later this year, the project’s Principal Investigator, Dr García Rodríguez, will also be working between Spain and Mexico as part of the Spain–Mexico case study.

These country and regional strands are central to GLASO’s aim: to understand how LGBTIQ+ asylum and forced migration are shaped by different legal systems, political contexts, community infrastructures and forms of activism. We want the Observatory to produce research that is rigorous and valuable to the people and organisations most affected by asylum policy.

We are also putting together our Alternative Ethics Boards and Regional Steering Committees. These groups will help guide the project as it develops, ensuring that our research is institutionally ethical and grounded in community knowledge.

The Alternative Ethics Boards are especially important because traditional university ethics processes do not always capture the risks faced by LGBTIQ+ people seeking asylum, refugees, activists and community organisations. In contexts where visibility can create danger, we believe that ethics cannot simply be a form completed before research begins, but, instead, they should be an ongoing conversation about safety, consent, power, representation, confidentiality and accountability.

Through these boards, GLASO aims to create a more careful and participatory model of research ethics. We want to ask better questions and make sure that the people closest to the issues have a meaningful role in shaping how the research is conducted and shared.

If you have questions about the project, or if you are interested in joining one of these groups, please contact us at: info@glasobservatory.com 

We look forward to building this work with researchers, activists, practitioners, policymakers and communities across regions.