Sexuality and Queer Geographies

Sexuality and queer theory within geography overlap and can be conflated. Queer is a complex term within academia that has been operationalized by queer theorists and geographers as an antinormative concept which questions the assumed links among gender, sex, sexualities, race, disabilities, and other social differences. Within geography queer has largely been used as a theoretical framework for research relating to sexualities. However, queer geographers have aimed to build a broader critique of normative hierarchies and power relations that will challenge dominant systems of oppression beyond sexualities. Research on the geographies of lesbians and gay men remains important within queer geographies, where recent work on mobilities and digital geographies questions earlier theorizations of the relationship between space and sexual identity. Queer thinking has further challenged some of the limitations of sexualities work by developing critiques of homonormativity and challenging exclusions in sexualities research by taking seriously lesbian, trans, bi, heterosexual, and intersectional geographies. However, queer also has its limitations, wherein the globalization of the term queer has erased cultural distinctions between sexual identities, lives, practices, and oppressions. Queer geographies need to also highlight how cultural diversities surrounding sexualities contest hegemonic Anglo-American definitions of queer.