ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how LGBTIQ+ interpreters working on temporary appointments for international organizations have experienced the irruption of remote interpreting in their professional lives. Remote interpreting was introduced in international organizations during the pandemic and has maintained a moderate presence afterwards. Taking a phenomenological approach, the chapter explores the unique ways in which LGBTIQ+ interpreters experienced the technological shift within the organizational culture of institutions striving for peace, dignity, and equality on a healthy planet, as the United Nations’ motto reads. This examination will focus on the lived experiences shared by anonymous LGBTIQ+ interpreters whose narratives coalesce in three illustrative cases. The cases include the logistical arrangements involved in safeguarding their security when traveling to countries that criminalize LGBTIQ+ individuals, their mental well-being within the work environment, and their collective action to improve their working conditions as both interpreters and members of the LGBTIQ+ community. Highlighting both favorable and adverse outcomes, remote interpreting has revealed challenges that impact interpreters irrespective of their gender identity but also others that impose an additional burden on LGBTIQ+ interpreters, a form of minority tax that spares gender-normative interpreters. The challenges identified compound a situation of intersectional oppression for LGBTIQ+ interpreters.
