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Political Spaces

Denise Tse-Shang Tang

in Conditional Spaces: Hong Kong Lesbian Desires and Everyday Life

The term tongzhi is contested for its earlier primary definition to mean gay and middle class. It is used within LGBT activist communities and non-governmental organizations to denote politics that ... More

The term tongzhi is contested for its earlier primary definition to mean gay and middle class. It is used within LGBT activist communities and non-governmental organizations to denote politics that aim for equality and human rights. This chapter examines the role of prominent women activists in Hong Kong's tongzhi movement as a means of understanding how the overall political and sociocultural environment in Hong Kong affects one's perspectives on social justice, civic engagement, and sexual identities. The informants with activist backgrounds chose to use either their real names or pseudonyms used in the media. The chapter begins with a bold assumption that Hong Kong's tongzhi movement is a conflicted political site where recent gains have been made in regards to public visibility and issue-based demands due to heightened awareness on human rights, global inequalities, social justice, and corporate greed.Less

The Space–Time Continuum of the ‘Dangerous’ Body: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Securityscapes in Kyrgyzstan

Nina Bagdasarova

in Surviving Everyday Life: The Securityscapes of Threatened People in Kyrgyzstan

From the perspective of large parts of Kyrgyz society, 'non-traditional' relations do not only pertain to ethnically mixed couples but equally to same-sex partnerships. This chapter takes a look at ... More

From the perspective of large parts of Kyrgyz society, 'non-traditional' relations do not only pertain to ethnically mixed couples but equally to same-sex partnerships. This chapter takes a look at the securityscapes of individuals from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in Bishkek, who face similarly dire consequences if their sexual orientation or gender preference is found out. Their everyday life in public thus often resembles a continual masquerade. The chapter focusses, in particular, on an LGBT nightclub in the capital city. It argues that the stress of having to keep disguising oneself may occasionally excite moments of excess and frenzy, of experiencing one's 'true' self only in a temporary act of transgressing the norms of profane life.Less

LGBT+ Bodies

Ruth Weatherall

in Reimagining Academic Activism: Learning from Feminist Anti-Violence Activists

This chapter focuses on how the naturalisation of the ‘female body’ in relation to gendered violence operates to exclude the experiences of LGBT+ women and gender minorities. Butler’s heterosexual ... More

This chapter focuses on how the naturalisation of the ‘female body’ in relation to gendered violence operates to exclude the experiences of LGBT+ women and gender minorities. Butler’s heterosexual matrix is used to analyse the heteronormativity of the collective and how LGBT+ victims were excluded materially and symbolically. Nevertheless, LGBT+ members of the collective continually challenged this exclusion and demonstrated how understanding violence against LGBT+ folk offered a better understanding of gendered violence and the different ways in which bodies are vulnerable to violence.Less

Out and on the Outs: The 1990s Mass Marches and the Black and LGBT Communities

Deborah Gray White

in Connexions: Histories of Race and Sex in North America

This chapter investigates how the gay community marginalized black people and then how the black community marginalized gay people of color. It considers the Million Man (1995) and Million Woman ... More

This chapter investigates how the gay community marginalized black people and then how the black community marginalized gay people of color. It considers the Million Man (1995) and Million Woman (1997) marches and the 1993 and 2000 LGBTQ marches and examines how people whose lives straddle both these intersections have sought community and comfort. Many black LGBTs wanted to be part of the LGBT community and the black community. They were vocal about their needs and desires and what they brought to both communities. While some found the community they were looking for, others did not. The reality, sadly enough, was that even though black LGBTs were “out” and vocal at the African American and LGBT marches, they remained on the outs in both communities.Less

Introduction: Transgender Citizenships

Isaac West

in Transforming Citizenships: Transgender Articulations of the Law

This introductory chapter describes the efforts of the Atlanta Police Department (APD) to arrest transgender workers for being “troublesome inhabitants” of Midtown. When transgender persons and other ... More

This introductory chapter describes the efforts of the Atlanta Police Department (APD) to arrest transgender workers for being “troublesome inhabitants” of Midtown. When transgender persons and other community activists pressed the APD to justify their actions, the organization denied any prejudice directed toward trans people. The book centers on this anecdote, examining narratives of people involved in fighting the discriminatory policy. It also explores how legal discourses participate in the figuration of citizens, publics, and politics, the uniting characteristics and boundaries of LGBT communities, the anxieties associated with sharing spaces with strangers, as well as transgender and queer world-making responses to these problematics.Less

Come Out of Your Political Closets: To Israeli Filmmakers

Aloni Udi

in What Does a Jew Want?: On Binationalism and Other Specters

In this chapter, the author criticizes Israeli filmmakers Gal Uchovsky and Eitan Fox for their views on the lesbian community. After the murder in the LGBT youth club in Tel Aviv on August 1, 2009, ... More

In this chapter, the author criticizes Israeli filmmakers Gal Uchovsky and Eitan Fox for their views on the lesbian community. After the murder in the LGBT youth club in Tel Aviv on August 1, 2009, Uchovsky and Fox organized a memorial assembly where they prevented Knesset member Hissam Makhoul of Hadash from speaking during the event but embraced right-wing political leaders. At the same time, they were outing artists who refused to take part in the assembly. The author takes Uchovsky and Fox to task for their aggressive outing of artists and their scandalous criticism of the lesbian community who refused to kowtow to facile cultural icons. According to the author, the two filmmakers prevented the opportunity to forge bonds of solidarity between the LGBT community and the Palestinians of Israel and the Occupied Territories. He calls on Uchovsky and Fox to come out of their own political closets, take a stand alongside the oppressed, and refrain from making the gay community part of a violent, racist mainstream.Less

Transgressing Boundaries: Seeking help against intimate partner violence in lesbian and queer relationships

Nicole Ovesen

in Bodily Interventions and Intimate Labour: Understanding Bioprecarity

This chapter explores the concept of bioprecarity in the context of intimate partner violence (IPV) in LBTQ relationships by focusing on help-seeking as crossing encounters. Judith Butler (2004) ... More

This chapter explores the concept of bioprecarity in the context of intimate partner violence (IPV) in LBTQ relationships by focusing on help-seeking as crossing encounters. Judith Butler (2004) discusses the body as a site of human vulnerability emphasizing that ‘this vulnerability is always articulated differently, that it cannot be properly thought of outside a differentiated field of power and, specifically, the differential operation of norms of recognition.’ (44). Eve Sedgwick (1990) describes the invisibility sustaining the figure of the closet as the defining structure of gay oppression (71). Following this line of thought Beverly Skeggs and Leslie Moran (2014) address the need to produce ‘new visibilities’ claims for protection against violence (5). Drawing on these theorizations and on original empirical data, in this chapter I analyse the concept of help-seeking as crossing encounters of intimacy, not only in the sense of the private-public realms, but also regarding community and cultural boundaries, as the embodied LBTQ-victim-survivor transgresses the cultural perceptions of victimhood when meeting help-providers in an institutional context.Less

In a New Country: Parashat Ki Tavo (Deuteronomy 26:1–29:8)

Shirley Idelson

in Torah Queeries: Weekly Commentaries on the Hebrew Bible

This chapter presents a reading of Parashat Ki Tavo of Deuteronomy commanding Israelites to bring first fruits and tithes upon entering the Promise Land. Text teaches that comfort and access is ... More

This chapter presents a reading of Parashat Ki Tavo of Deuteronomy commanding Israelites to bring first fruits and tithes upon entering the Promise Land. Text teaches that comfort and access is followed by obligations. Similarly, the LGBT community must accept certain responsibilities “upon entering” their “promised land”—a place where they are accepted regardless of their identity. By being responsible, they will build a philanthropic model based on a shared value system and cultivate a sense of humility. Such an endeavor would require queers to articulate political and philanthropic agendas for education, family, and children's services, elderlies, and aid to the poor—both within and extending beyond the LGBT community.Less

The 1s and the 0s: Defining, Socializing, and Disciplining Gender Roles in the Tongzhi Community

Tiantian Zheng

in Tongzhi Living: Men Attracted to Men in Postsocialist China

Chapter 3 unravels the gender roles and gender dynamics in tongzhi relationships. More specifically, it explores the ways in which tongzhi negotiate, rework, and recast hegemonic codes of masculinity ... More

Chapter 3 unravels the gender roles and gender dynamics in tongzhi relationships. More specifically, it explores the ways in which tongzhi negotiate, rework, and recast hegemonic codes of masculinity and femininity in their relationships and create unique forms of engagements with gender. Through foregrounding the relationships between 1 (penetrator) and 0 (penetrated), this chapter argues that these relationships and identities are constructed and shaped within the hegemonic gender norms that dictate gender roles, such as female sexual faithfulness as the object of control and male sexual promiscuity as the master of control. After entering the tongzhi community, as a result of his first sexual experience, each man is often defined as either 1 or 0 and expected to assume either a masculine or a feminine role. In this community, men learn how to be 1s and 0s through their experiences, and often their challenges and manipulations manifest the unstable and contentious nature of gender roles. Although these creative aberrations and appropriations of hegemonic gender norms allow for the individual pursuit of sexual pleasure and a certain degree of freedom, they continue to be self-contradictory and subject to intense contention.Less

Embracing the Heterosexual Norm: The Double Lives of Tongzhi

Tiantian Zheng

in Tongzhi Living: Men Attracted to Men in Postsocialist China

Chapter 6 discusses the ways in which tongzhi in my research cover up their sexual identities and fail to formulate an open-identity social activist group. Although tongzhi congregate in cruising ... More

Chapter 6 discusses the ways in which tongzhi in my research cover up their sexual identities and fail to formulate an open-identity social activist group. Although tongzhi congregate in cruising areas and work at local AIDS organizations, they keep their real names, home addresses, and workplace information confidential from each other. They are cautious and discreet for fear of possible blackmail or disclosure of their tongzhi identity to their family and colleagues. The weak ties and lack of solidarity among them have engendered an environment that is not conducive to organized protests. Aspiration for membership in the dominant culture has also weakened their solidarity. When tongzhi’s self-criticisms coalesce with their acceptance of the heteronormative discourse, it marks a decline in their identification with the tongzhi community and an increase in their identification with the mainstream. When tongzhi offer each other advice on how to cope with romantic relationships and how to fend off parents’ pressure to marry, it marks an increase in their identification with the tongzhi community and a decline in their identification with the mainstream.Less

The Price of the Ticket

Fredrick C. Harris

in The Price of the Ticket: Barack Obama and Rise and Decline of Black Politics

This chapter examines Barack Obama's race-neutral approach to governing and policymaking—as well as black voters' and black elites' refusal to pressure him to address community interests—and its ... More

This chapter examines Barack Obama's race-neutral approach to governing and policymaking—as well as black voters' and black elites' refusal to pressure him to address community interests—and its political consequences for African Americans. It also discusses the marginalization of blacks' community interests in relation to the Obama administration's focus on other constituencies such as the LGBT community on the Left and the Tea Party on the Right. Finally, the chapter looks at universalism as a color-blind approach to politics and public policy as well as the symbolic aspects of representation within the context of black politics.Less

The Normal Postsocialist Subject: Class, Wealth, and Money Boys

Tiantian Zheng

in Tongzhi Living: Men Attracted to Men in Postsocialist China

Chapter 4 unravels tongzhi’s negotiations and interactions with the dominant discourse of the “normal” postsocialist person and the impact this discourse has on the class structure, career, and ... More

Chapter 4 unravels tongzhi’s negotiations and interactions with the dominant discourse of the “normal” postsocialist person and the impact this discourse has on the class structure, career, and romantic relationships among tongzhi. Although class structure among Chinese tongzhi is largely shaped by wealth, higher-classtongzhi can practice “covert gayness” because they can afford to eat and drink and congregate in more secretive places, such as high-cost bars. Lower-class tongzhi are compelled to practice more “overt gayness” because they tend to cruise in free, open spaces, such as parks and public bathrooms. The dominant discourse of the normal person also impinges on the intimacies of romantic relationships and career choices of some rural migrant men who work as money boys in hopes of accumulating enough money to catapult themselves to a higher class, such as businessmen. Wealth and class are implicated in the selection of partners and in the intimacy of romantic relationships. This chapter argues that tongzhi embrace the dominant discourse in order to pronounce themselves as normal postsocialist persons. In so doing, they paradoxically are co-opted by the state apparatus, thereby legitimizing and perpetuating state power.Less

A Cultural History of Same-Sex Desire in China

Tiantian Zheng

in Tongzhi Living: Men Attracted to Men in Postsocialist China

By elucidating the historic continuities of diverse, malleable, ambiguous, and fluid sexual imaginations in China, chapter 1 critiques the postsocialist construction of heteronormativity and the ... More

By elucidating the historic continuities of diverse, malleable, ambiguous, and fluid sexual imaginations in China, chapter 1 critiques the postsocialist construction of heteronormativity and the portrayal of homosexuality as a representation of a decadent lifestyle imported from the West. It argues that recasting the past and linking the past to the present can enrich our understanding of the present and challenge the current discourse. During the ancient and imperial periods in China, same-sex desires were deemed normal and were enjoyed by many emperors and upper-class scholars and bureaucrats. There was never a fixed or reified sexual identity linked to a certain sexual preference. Sexual fantasies during these many centuries in China were fluid, diverse, and in constant flux. At the turn of the twentieth century, the onslaught of Western medical knowledge changed this cultural tradition and indoctrinated in society heteronormativity and a pathologized and vilified vision of homosexuality. This inaugurated the repression of same-sex-attracted people during the Communist era. The normalizing of heterosexuality and disavowing of China’s past continued in the postsocialist era.Less

Maybe Not Marriage: A Future Free of the Closet

Tiantian Zheng

in Tongzhi Living: Men Attracted to Men in Postsocialist China

The conclusion summarizes the current situation of the tongzhi, reiterates the main themes of the book, and offers speculations about the possible future course of tongzhi in China.

Exodus: Millennial Former Mormons

Jana Riess

in The Next Mormons: How Millennials Are Changing the LDS Church

This chapter focuses on millennial former Mormons. As many as half of millennials who were raised Mormon may be leaving the faith, which is a significant change from older generations, which retained ... More

This chapter focuses on millennial former Mormons. As many as half of millennials who were raised Mormon may be leaving the faith, which is a significant change from older generations, which retained closer to three-quarters of childhood adherents. The Next Mormons Survey (NMS) was able to learn more about former Mormons' demographic characteristics, religious beliefs and behaviors, reasons for leaving, and post-Mormon religious lives. The picture that emerges is complex; leaving a religion is often the result of multiple areas of conflict, not just one. Yet there are common threads that weave the stories of people together. Generationally, social issues like the Church's treatment of women and the LGBT community appear to be galvanizing disaffection among younger former Mormons. Another major concern for them was feeling judged or misunderstood.Less