Migration—whether international or internal, forced or voluntary—intertwines with digital media, especially for sexual minorities and trans people who seek out platforms catering to lesbian, gay,... Show moreMigration—whether international or internal, forced or voluntary—intertwines with digital media, especially for sexual minorities and trans people who seek out platforms catering to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Online networks foster transnational flows of ideas and information, which can enable international travel. The ways that queer people interact on digital media in the 21st century have emerged not only from decades of online subcultures—such as 1990s chatrooms and profile sites—but also from predigital media cultures, such as printed personal ads in gay and lesbian journals. The internet accelerated the growth of media platforms and queer international networks, both of which continued to develop with the advent of mobile phone apps and the proliferation of social media. Online media—from blogs to hashtags to “hook-up” apps—can relate to all aspects of the migration process. Before, during, and after a move, queer migrants access online media for information about LGBTQ laws and norms or for help with the logistics of migration. When in a new country, queer migrants use online media to try to connect with locals. During these interactions, migrants might encounter forms of xenophobia, racism, and exclusion. In spite or because of these experiences, queer migrants utilize digital media to build new networks, such as queer diasporic communities aimed at social or political activities. Show less
ENGLISH BELOW:De 1965 à 1975, des travailleurs immigrés venus seuls – la plupart originaires de Turquie, du Maroc et de l’Europe du Sud – ont participé aux transformations des cultures sexuelles et... Show moreENGLISH BELOW:De 1965 à 1975, des travailleurs immigrés venus seuls – la plupart originaires de Turquie, du Maroc et de l’Europe du Sud – ont participé aux transformations des cultures sexuelles et de genre de l’Europe du Nord. Cependant, à partir du milieu des années 1970, l’arrivée des épouses et enfants venus de leur pays d’origine conduit à un changement d’attitude à l’égard de la liberté sexuelle. Cet article explore, dans le cas des Pays-Bas, ce tournant conservateur chez les travailleurs immigrés lié au regroupement familial. Il propose l’utilisation du fonds de collections photographiques déposées par des immigrant.es à l’Institut d’histoire sociale d’Amsterdam et montre l’intérêt de ces archives personnelles pour écrire une histoire de la sexualité et de l’immigration.From the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s, solo male guest-workers – often from Turkey, Morocco, and southern Europe – participated in the radicalizing gender and sexual cultures of northwest Europe. From the mid-1970s onward, however, with the arrival of wives and children from their countries of origin, these men’s attitudes toward sexual liberty changed. This article explores this conservative turn during the guest-worker family reunification years in the Netherlands, using photographs from the Historical Image Archive of Migrants (International Institute of Social History, the Netherlands) to show how personal photo collections can contribute to histories of sexuality and immigration. Show less
Connolly, M.; Phillips, A.; Shield, A.D.J.; Tongson, K. 2020
The Velvet Light Trap gathered a diverse group of scholars with a range of specialties related to queer theory and media. This round-table touches on everything from dating apps to the films of... Show moreThe Velvet Light Trap gathered a diverse group of scholars with a range of specialties related to queer theory and media. This round-table touches on everything from dating apps to the films of John Waters to a livestreamed Indigo Girls concert, demonstrating the myriad ways digitality has affected queer media, representation, and audiences. The researchers began this discussion on 9 March 2020, only for closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic to begin in earnest a few days later. Thus, the participants' contributions began to reflect this fraught period toward the end of the conversation. Show less
It is with great pleasure that we introduce Leidschrift’s first special issue devoted to ‘LGBT History’. Or to phrase it in less of an anachronistic way—as the term ‘LGBT’ only gained prominence... Show moreIt is with great pleasure that we introduce Leidschrift’s first special issue devoted to ‘LGBT History’. Or to phrase it in less of an anachronistic way—as the term ‘LGBT’ only gained prominence since the 1990s—this special issue historicizes today’s LGBT identities, communities, and movements via four new studies of homosexuality and gender non-conformity in history. Two of the articles focus on late-medieval and early-modern Europe (roughly 1400-1700); and two look at the twentieth century, with a focus on the radical changes of the 1960s-70s. In situating their studies within larger histories—of religion, medicine, literature—the authors not only provide ‘queer’ histories of sexual and gender deviations, but they also demonstrate how ‘to queer’ more established areas of history. Show less
The Netherlands and Denmark housed Europe’s first two postwar homophile organizations, and by the 1960s, activists were already debating anti-homosexual laws in national media, and (in the... Show moreThe Netherlands and Denmark housed Europe’s first two postwar homophile organizations, and by the 1960s, activists were already debating anti-homosexual laws in national media, and (in the Netherlands) demonstrating publicly; thus Stonewall was not the origin of activism in either of these countries. Yet the events in New York City 1969 had two lasting influences in these countries: first, Stonewall catalyzed a transnational ‘consciousness’ (or solidarity) among gay and lesbian activists during a period of radicalization; and second, the Christopher Street Liberation Day 1970 inspired the visible demonstrations known today as ‘Pride’ celebrations. From 1971, Denmark’s national organization planned Christopher Street Day demonstrations every June; and that same year, a radical Gay Liberation Front split off from the association. From 1977, the Netherlands planned its own late-June demonstrations, often with transnational themes (e.g. Anita Bryant in 1977, the Iranian Revolution in 1979). In the following decades, these demonstrations of gay/lesbian visibility moved to August, and Denmark (and Belgium) dropped Christopher Street from event names. Yet scholars, activists, and the general public still evoke the memory of the first Liberation Day when referring to a ‘post-Stonewall’ era in the Netherlands and Denmark. Show less
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Denmark received about 15,000 foreign workers from Turkey, Yugoslavia, Pakistan, the Middle East and North Africa during a unique period of women’s and sexual... Show moreDuring the late 1960s and early 1970s, Denmark received about 15,000 foreign workers from Turkey, Yugoslavia, Pakistan, the Middle East and North Africa during a unique period of women’s and sexual liberation. As foreign men visited discos—sometimes in search of sexual relationships with Danish women—a segment of Danish men accused foreigners of taking not only ‘their’ jobs but also ‘their’ women, and depicted foreign men as hypersexual or sexually violent (e.g. in union newspapers, men’s magazines). These ‘sexotic’ depictions of foreign men had immediate and negative effects on immigrants’ lived experiences in Denmark. In gay male subcultures, ‘sexotic’ depictions of men of color served mainly to entertain white fantasies, which also affected the experiences especially of gay men of color in Denmark. Overall, sexualized stereotypes about the male Other were central to broader political discussions in Denmark in the long 1970s, including debates about Danish wage suppression, immigrant ghetto formation, and the definition of sexual liberation. Show less
In this (open-access) essay, I assess the idea that Grindr and related apps render urban gay spaces obsolete, and offer three counter-arguments based on my research with immigrants and tourists who... Show moreIn this (open-access) essay, I assess the idea that Grindr and related apps render urban gay spaces obsolete, and offer three counter-arguments based on my research with immigrants and tourists who use Grindr. In short: newcomers who use Grindr might actually bring new life to queer urban spaces, because...1. Newcomers don’t use Grindr in the same way they use (physical) queer spaces;2. Newcomers use Grindr *in* queer spaces; and3. Newcomers often have better luck finding sex offline. Show less
This article identifies and provides examples of five recurring speech patterns on dating platforms that users might experience as racist and/or xenophobic. Empirical material comes from over... Show moreThis article identifies and provides examples of five recurring speech patterns on dating platforms that users might experience as racist and/or xenophobic. Empirical material comes from over 3000 Copenhagen-based profile texts on Grindr and PlanetRomeo—two platforms that cater primarily to men seeking men—as well as from interviews with twelve recent immigrants to the greater Copenhagen area who use these platforms. Theories of everyday racism (Essed, 1991), sexual racism (Callander, 2015), and entitlement racism (Essed, 2013; Essed and Muhr, 2018) informed the formulation of these five patterns, which I identify as the following: persistent questions about the origins of people with migration background; racial-sexual exclusions; racial-sexual fetishes; conflation between (potential) immigrants and economic opportunism; and insults directed at immigrants based on race, nationality, or religion. As an exploratory study, this article mainly serves to inform readers of the various ways immigrants and people of color can experience racism and xenophobia while participating in online sexual and social networking platforms; but secondly, the chapter archives the mercurial and fleeting (albeit historically embedded) discourses on these platforms for future researchers interested in comparing racisms over time and across cultures. Show less
This research note is based on ethnographic work in the greater Copenhagen area on the socio-sexual networking app Grindr and on interviews with twelve recent immigrants who use this platform. As... Show moreThis research note is based on ethnographic work in the greater Copenhagen area on the socio-sexual networking app Grindr and on interviews with twelve recent immigrants who use this platform. As an online space primarily for gay men, Grindr is a unique subculture in which to conduct research about intersections of sexuality with other socio-cultural categories such as race and migration background, but also gender and ability. I find that user experiences with exclusion and discrimination relate to Grindr’s interface, such as its drop-down menus, to the discourses circulated by Grindr users in profile texts, and to user-to-user interactions in private messages.Show less
