Queer Space Research Articles

Taking Pride in STEMM by taking STEMM to Pride!

In the hopes of inspiring other science communicators to engage with the LGBTQ+ community, we highlight some of the barriers to inclusion in STEMM faced by this community and summarize the activities we exhibited on our "Proud to be a Scientist" stall at Exeter Pride 2024. This allowed us to reach traditionally excluded and low science-capital audiences and promote representation in queer spaces.

“The flames are 50/50 right now”: content moderation practices at the onset of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States (1982–1990)

The timeline for the onset of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States occurred parallel to the domestic shift of computing and the advent of DIY computer networking efforts. During this critical time, many activists and community organisers within lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) spaces utilised computer networking, such as bulletin board systems (BBSs) and Usenet boards to facilitate information exchange within their affected communities. Due to the sensitive nature of the epidemic and often-vital need for up-to-date information, content moderation became an increasingly important issue on these boards. This paper uses varying archival methods to explore the development of content moderation practices, and the influence of HIV/AIDS culture, on bulletin board systems and Usenet boards, with a special focus on boards dedicated to LGBTQ+ content and HIV/AIDS information exchange.

The light side of urban planning: Queer space in Beersheba between displacement and recognition

How can the ‘dark side’ of urban policy and planning be transformed into a ‘light side?’ How can displaceability and exclusion of an urban minority be reversed? How can marginalized groups enter the mainstream and achieve recognition, security and a stake in urban resources? The critical literature on the ‘dark side’ of planning rarely deals with the transformation from oppression to justice for excluded groups. The story of queer (LGBTQ+) space in Beersheba, Israel, which illustrates such a process, is analyzed here through the struggle to organize a gay parade and be allocated municipal assets for community use. The paper traces the transformation of the relationships between the community, the mayor and the City Council. The analysis shows how urban citizenship became a site of struggle constructed “from below,” coupled with the ability to mobilize support from other cities and political pragmatism. In order to locate this struggle in a broader context, the LGBTQ+ struggle is compared to that of another minority, Beersheba’s Bedouin-Arab community. The latter’s plight shows that while the LGBTQ+ commrecognition and moving towards the ‘light side,’ the Arab community was experiencing the ‘dark side,’ with increasing urban oppression and displacement. The study thus shows how a liberal, gay struggle may also be used to “pinkwash” on-going displacement of other communities in the urban periphery.

Queer tourism geographies and placemaking: beyond homonormativity

Queer spaces emerge as a response to the restrictive nature of homonormativity, which compels queer individuals to conform to dominant cis-heteronormativities. This underscores the need for in-depth knowledge about queer spaces, particularly those that extend beyond the experiences of gay men. This study explores how lesbian and queer women as mobile transnationals create space for themselves in Copenhagen, a city recognised as the world’s most gay-friendly place. It employs an interpretivist research paradigm utilizing a critical feminist and queer geography lens. Findings from observations and interviews reveal the absence of a specific lesbian space in Copenhagen; instead, numerous queer spaces are characterised by fluidity, safety, community and their welcoming approach towards LGBTQIA+ travellers. Lesbian and queer women do not become visible through physical spaces but through the strong networks they have created for themselves. A queer space offers a sense of safety within a public setting for the community that gathers there. Additionally, lesbian and queer women actively reshape and conquer existing cis-heteronormative spaces through material and immaterial practices such as exclusive online community spaces or through hosting queer events in spaces such as churches. The study addresses the absence of feminist and queer perspectives in a discourse on sustainable tourism geographies. It provides policymakers with insights and recommendations for creating inclusive, queer-friendly spaces.

‘Was I in dixie or wasn’t I:’ queer negativity and the U.S. South in Howard Cruse’s stuck rubber baby

ABSTRACT This essay examines how Howard Cruse’s graphic novel Stuck Rubber Baby (1995) engages with contemporary debates on relationality and queer theory in relation to the text’s politics of the U.S. South. Drawing on theorists like Lee Edelman and Jose Esteban Munoz, the essay argues that while Cruse depicts seemingly utopic queer spaces like the Rhombus bar, these ultimately fail to achieve a true queer utopia due to the ideological constraints of the U.S. South. Instead, the novel situates its queer protagonist Toland in a suspended state of liminality, caught between heteronormativity and an unattainable queer utopia. As a response to such liminality, this essay traces how Toland attempts to assimilate into normativity by engaging with the project of reproductive futurism. However, in response to the lynching of Toland’s friend Sammy, I argue that he experiences a symbolic fragmentation, prompting him to embrace his queer identity and exist within the negative, anti-social temporality. By foregrounding the complexities of Stuck’s depiction of U.S. Southern queerness, this essay argues that the novel maintains a view of queerness as oppositional to hegemonic visions of the U.S. South while constrained by external forces of marginalisation.

The more, the better: queer urban spatialities of Seoul in three films

ABSTRACT Queer space in South Korea’s primate city Seoul has historically remained excluded or invisible across multiple temporalities: in official histories and accounts of the past, in present urban life, and in planning for the future. This is especially noticeable in the municipal government’s numerous revitalization plans which focus on known ‘gayborhoods’ such as Jongno 3-ga. This article identifies and analyzes the structure of differing queer spatialities present in Seoul through close reading and examination of three films: the auteur produced A Cheonggyecheon Dog (2008), the realist documentary Miracle on Jongno Street (2010), and the archival art film Dadaikseon (2018). In these filmic representations, we observe multiple spatialities in Seoul that reflect the precarity and isolation faced by queer individuals in processes of urban redevelopment, the Janus-faced nature of urban space during the night versus the day which can allow or inhibit queer collectivity, and the dynamic erasure of urban spaces which fall outside of hegemonic norms in the face of urban change and gentrification. In the face of the homogenization of Seoul’s urban space, we argue that the identification of a multiplicity of queer spatialities opens up possibility and alternatives to dominant processes and patterns of urbanization, modernization and homogenization – that is, the more non-normative spatialities, the better.

K-pop Fandom’s affective role in shaping knowledge of gender and sexuality among LGBTQ+ fans in Australia and the Philippines

Drawing on interviews with 17 K-pop fans from Australia and the Philippines who identity as LGBTQ+, this article explores and theorizes the role of K-pop fandom in the production of knowledge concerning gender and sexuality. Through an analytical approach sensitive to the affective discourse produced by fans, this article establishes that K-pop fandom operates as a queer space which normalizes queer sexuality and gendered performance through the production of feelings of security, attraction, and relief. Further, analysis of the LGBTQ + fans’ discourse uncovers that the androgynous gendered performances of K-pop idols facilitate fans’ queering of heteropatriarchal and heteronormative ideologies.

Negotiating the Paradoxical Binaries of ‘Safety’ in Queer Spaces: Autoethnographic and Socio-Spatial Reflections

ABSTRACT Amidst a backdrop of attacks on both LGBTQ+ individuals and LGBTQ+ venues coupled with the ongoing changing landscape of urban queer spaces across the UK, this article offers a timely autoethnographic and socio-spatial account of queer “safety.” This article examines when and how queer spaces are experienced as “safe.” Specifically, the article offers reflections from the author’s experience of two queer spaces: (1) The Proud Place, a purpose-built community center in Manchester, England and (2) The concert of a queer female artist that took place in Bristol, England. The article concludes that queer spaces are contextually safe spaces. Through an analysis of (in)visibility and exclusivity in queer spaces, the article reveals the social structures and power dynamics impacting perceptions of safety.

Columns: The Future is Now: Teaching while Queer: Navigating the First Year

A candidate in a teacher preparation program leads and researches a queer book club, which invites opportunities for them to foster queer spaces, communities, and visibility in their first year of teaching.

Solidarity with whom? Minority perspectives on allyship in Danish queer spaces

AbstractSocial psychological research has witnessed a burgeoning interest in advantaged group allies acting in solidarity with disadvantaged groups to challenge systems of inequality. While solidarity from advantaged group members is often deemed critical for social change, the perceptions of disadvantaged group members regarding ally participation are seldom addressed. This research delved into how LGBTQIA+ individuals in Denmark conceptualize allyship. Through 26 semi‐structured interviews with participants and organizers of queer pride events, a thematic analysis identified three themes addressing how allyship materializes, what risks it bears and who it involves. Specifically, we present a three‐levelled framework of allyship, which captures practices of allyship on a personal, relational and structural level. Our analysis also reveals the risk of allyship when it is not perceived as genuine and complexities of group boundaries when discussing allyship, shedding light on intersectional challenges within minority communities. These findings illustrate the nuances involved in providing and receiving allyship within and across various social (sub)groups.

Collaborating, collecting and representing: queer independent archives and their connections with GLAM institutions in Aotearoa/New Zealand

Introduction. Queer independent archives play a significant role in their communities, preserving and providing access to narratives that might otherwise be lost. Queer archives are assumed to be homogenous and thus representative, although some queer communities are not visible. Collaborations with GLAM institutions and universities have become more prevalent as the importance of supporting independent archives is recognised. Nevertheless, for many queer archives and their communities retaining autonomy in such collaborations is vital. Method. These issues were explored from the perspective of New Zealand’s three queer independent archives through six semi-structured interviews conducted with representatives from each archive. Analysis. The analysis revealed a range of institutional collaborations, reflecting the needs and situation of each archive. Employing different collecting approaches to broaden community representation and record queer life experiences were priorities for the queer archives although with varying degrees of success. Conclusion. This paper highlights some of the challenges faced by queer archives regarding representation and visibility and how institutional collaborations could prove beneficial. Conversely, there may be drawbacks for queer archives, particularly during renegotiations, when power imbalances might become evident. A regular review might assist GLAMs to more gainfully support queer archives operating in an evolving queer space.

Audre Lorde and queer ecology: An ecological praxis of Black lesbian identity in Zami

This paper employs Audre Lorde’s theoretical paradigm of anti-binarism and ecofeminism to explore her creation of a distinctive queer space which is achieved through the successful incorporation of ecological elements in her narrative of lesbianism. The central premise of this research lies in the intersection of lesbian concerns and the environmental sensibility in Lorde’s novel, Zami. The detailed analysis of instances of lesbian lovemaking interspersed with ecological references in Zami reveals a close connection between environment and queer sexuality, realised in the phrase “queer ecology”. This study investigates how the erotic contours of Lorde’s lesbian identity are shaped by her sustained engagement with the environmental metaphor derived from her immediate surroundings as well as the geography of her ancestral Grenadian island where the Zami myth originates. The cartographies of the physical landscape of Grenada and Black lesbian bodies intersect to form a combined ethos of lesbian eroticism driven by a strong rootedness in ecological affiliation. Through close examination of Afrekete’s role in Zami’s lesbian erotics, this paper activates a distinctive queer-ecological reading of lesbian relationships derived from a combination of aquatic, green, and edible metaphors. This article is an endeavour to bring about a sustained engagement of queer and environmental concerns by unravelling a symbiotic relationship between the two.

Spacial Choices of Queer Urban Space: A Look into Queer Nightlife Establishments in China

This study examines the dynamics of queer public space in Chengdu, a major Chinese city. Considering the availability of access to different queer public spaces in China, we focus on Chengdu's night venue, entertainment, and digital public space and investigate their significance in creating queer community and sense of belonging. Observation, interviews, case studies, and document review is used to explore the queer space in Chengdu and reveal the obstacles queer community face when constituting safe queer space under the relatively oppressive ideology of the country. Investigating the problems through the lens of multi-disciplines such as urban sociology and gender studies, we take a view of the queer public space itself from an urban planning perspective which examines its design rationality as pure space constitution and analyzes the driving force for such design in gender studies perspective which involves discussion of intersectionality and analysis of patriarchal society. The queer urban space serves a critical function for the queer community by gathering the scattered population and providing a safe space to express their identities. By investigating the contemporary queer public space in Chengdu and making comparisons with that in other countries, this study uncovers the struggle and efforts of the queer community to establish their safe public space in combat with the heteronormative society.

‘Queering’ Soho: Contesting the borders of normative space in the neoliberal city

In the context of the recent ‘black lives matter’ and ‘me too’movements, the issue of inclusivity and diversity, identity, gender, race,‘otherness’, is brought forth in many disciplines, architecture, academia, teachingand design practices. Although this is, of course, a positive progress, oneneeds to be mindful of the complexities and the potentially conflictual effectsof a normalisation, especially if this dismisses or disallows space for furtherprocesses of disruption, or if this commodifies queer space, objectifies theother, and hence distances it further. In this context, this study reflects onthe relationship between place, bodies, contested norms and social conventions,focusing on Soho, London as a case study, and on the associated evolution ofqueer spaces and narratives.

Deviant Devising

Devised theater genealogies too often take shape around a set of primarily white, Western “ensemble-based” theater companies and training schools working in modes that emerged in Europe and the United States in the 1960s and 1970s in response to contemporary political circumstances and eventually found acceptance in the high-brow, avant garde cultural milieu. This cowritten, copresented article works to trouble that narrative by taking up the forms of queer and trans cocreated performance associated with underground queer spaces that have been excluded from histories of devised theater (drag, burlesque, ballroom, cabaret, parties, etc.). Using three case studies written in three different voices—the Chicago Kings, Sean Dorsey Dance and Fresh Meat Productions, and The Fly Honey Show—we examine what an alternative genealogy of devising, one that centers queer and trans artists, might look like.

Navigating queer spaces in Australian tertiary STEM Education: a retrospective autoethnopoetic exploration

ABSTRACT This article presents a retrospective autoethnopoetic study exploring a queer student's journey in Australian tertiary STEM education, employing queer research methodologies to illuminate the challenges encountered. Through personal narrative and poetic expression, we identify critical themes: microaggressions, discrimination, identity formation, cisheteronormative navigation, and resilience strategies. Although rooted in the first author's experiences, these insights reflect broader issues prevalent among queer students in STEM, such as the impact of discrimination and microaggressions on academic performance and well-being. This study underscores the significance of queer theory and autoethnopoetic methods in challenging normative assumptions in STEM education research, contributing to a deeper understanding of the queer academic experience. It advocates for the development of inclusive and supportive educational policies aimed at enhancing the learning environment for queer students, emphasising the need for visibility, representation, and support systems within STEM disciplines.

The Nature and Perceived Effects of Bipositivity Among Plurisexual Women

Disparities in physical and mental health have been well documented between plurisexual and monosexual women, but protective factors related to plurisexual identity remain largely unexplored. In this study, we aimed to provide an in-depth examination of the nature and perceived effects of plurisexual women’s bipositive experiences, to the extent that others may apply knowledge gained to intentionally foster bipositivity. We recruited 25 plurisexual women to complete a qualitative interview. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we identified 4 themes across participant descriptions of bipositive experiences, including (1) “Me too!” bonding, (2) Showing up: Acceptance and affirmation from monosexual allies, (3) “Ports in the storm”: The importance of queer spaces, and (4) Rosa is bi: Plurisexual representation in the media. Across themes, participants experienced positive social and psychological outcomes resulting from their bipositive experiences. Our findings have implications for developing interventions, supports, and consciousness-raising efforts to foster bipositivity.

Queerious communities: building writing centres in Indian universities

Abstract This paper examines the new phenomenon of writing centres being made a part of universities, particularly the liberal arts private universities, in India, as growing in a way that lends it to consciously choosing queer pedagogy and to building it as a politically queer space. While some aspects of the queering of writing centres mirror the invisibilizing and the burden of proving the worth of their existence in the way queer communities are, other aspects build on what queer theory enables in terms of understanding what it takes to build communities where what is normative will continually shift what it excludes. Queer theory reminds us of the fluid and constantly reconstituting nature of identity formation whether it is based on non-binary gender identity or identities caught in the debilitating intersections of class, caste, religion, ability and sexuality. This has led to a recognition that communities formed around the learning of reading, writing and thinking, as writing centres are, are predisposed to shift focus from product to process as a move in the practice of teaching writing because it considers the individual reading-and-writing-selves present in the classroom as subjects-in-formation. This paper argues that writing pedagogy is creating queer communities because it invites and supports unsettled subjective selves to the process of knowledge production.

Queerating (Creating) Harmony: Intentional and Inclusive Campus Queer Academic and Social Spaces

The creation of affirming spaces is imperative because queer students must find affinity to unpack and deconstruct the various intersections of sexuality, gender, race, and other intersectional identities that are a part of their transformational lives. This article discusses the use of the word queerating, which is an action that focuses on agency (self-identity), advocacy (self-empowerment), action (self-engagement), and actualization (self-efficacy). As ethno-autobiographers, the authors share their administrative and teaching journeys through personal vignettes, research on the history of queer spaces, and the psycho-social development of queer college students. The articles also discuss the practices, procedures, protocols, and policies necessary to queerate college spaces.

Scapegoating queers: Pink-blocking as state strategy

Malaysia’s ‘democratic transition’ in May 2018, when a challenger coalition ousted the long-dominant incumbent coalition, raised hopes of a new political climate, more respectful of civil liberties. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Malaysians shared that sentiment; a growing number had even protested openly for political liberalization as part of an umbrella movement for electoral reform. Within months of the election, several higher profile incidents peppered a series of attacks on queer spaces and both state-sponsored and private harassment of LGBT Malaysians – even as Malaysia ticked upwards in global metrics of ‘democracy’. Attention to LGBT peoples and issues remain at an all-time high in Malaysia, driven far less by queer activism than anti-LGBT agitation, in line with a government-led, base-ingratiating ‘pink-blocking’ agenda, rooted in both ‘Asian values’ and religious discourse. Here as elsewhere, queer identities and acts offer a handy diversion and scapegoat – and in Muslim-majority, increasingly Islamist Malaysia, anti-queer policies and policing affirm commitment to the presumed moral high ground of Malay-Muslim rights: pink-blocking offers a way to build coveted electoral support. In contrast, we may find recourse to ‘pink-washing’ strategies in countries lacking a similarly socially conservative, substantial base and/or competitive elections, and/or where currying favour with the west is a higher imperative.