LGBTQueering Cyberspaces

The web has been a source of both liberation and increased harassment for minority sexualities. On the positive side, the anonymity of the web has provided a safe space for people to explore alternative sexualities and connect with others dealing with the pleasures and dangers of non-mainstream sexual identities. In many cases, these connections have been literally life-saving.

On the other side, that same anonymity has been fertile ground for homophobic and heteronormative ranting, raving and harassment. And, as with gender and race/ethnicity, representations of gay/lesbian/queer folks in various digital media are often stereotypical and denigrating, and gay-baiting is rampant in game communiites.

Sources below include analyses of these issues, and links to organizations working to the make cyberspaces more user-friendly to LGBTQ communities.

Books and Articles on LGBTQ Cyberspaces

Alexander, Jonathan. ed. "Queer Webs: Representations of LGBT People and Communities on the World Wide Web." Intro to a special issue of International Journal of Sexuality and Gender Studies 7(2/3) (2002): 77-84.

Brouwer, Daniel. “Making Sense of 'God Hates Fags' and 'Thank God for 9 11': A Thematic Analysis of Milbloggers' Responses to Reverend Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church.” Western Journal of Communication 71.1 (2007): 69-90.

Burke, Susan. “In Search of Lesbian Community in an Electronic World.” CyberPsychology and Behavior, 3(4) (2000): 591-604

Campbell, John Edward. Getting It on Online: Cyberspace, Gay Male Sexuality, and Embodied Identity. Routledge, 2004.

---. “Outing PlanetOut: Surveillance, Gay Marketing and Internet Affinity Portals.” New Media & Society 7.5 (2005): 663-683.

Ferreday, Debra. "Computer Cross-dressing: Queering the Virtual Subject," in O'Riordan, ed. Queer Online, 155-74.

Friedman, Elisabeth. “Lesbians in (Cyber)Space: The Politics of the Internet in Latin American On- and Off-Line Communities.” Media, Culture & Society 29.5 (2007): 790-811.

Franco, Judith. "Langsters Online: kd lang and the Creation of Internet Fan Communities." In Su Holmes, and Sean Redmond, eds. Framing Celebrity: New Directions in Celebrity Culture. London: Routledge, 2006:269-284.

Foster, Thomas. "'Trapped by the Body'? Telepresence Technologies and Transgendered Performance in Feminist and Lesbian Rewritings of Cyberpunk Fiction." In David Bell and Barbara M. Kennedy. eds, Cybercultures Reader. NY: Routledge, 2002: 439-460.

Gosine, Andil. "Brown to Blonde at Gay.Com: Passing White in Queer Cyberspace," in O'Riordan, ed. Queer Online, 139-54.

Gray, Mary L. Out in the Country: Youth, Media, and Queer Visibility in Rural America. New York University Press, 2009.

Heinz, B. et. al. "Under the Rainbow Flag: Webbing Global Gay Identities." International Journal of Sexuality and Gender Studies 7(2/3) (2002): 107-24.

Jung, Susanne. Queering Popular Culture:Female Spectators and the Appeal of Writing Slash Fiction. Gender Forum (2004).

Laukkanen, Marjo. "Young Queers Online: The Limits and Possibilities of Non-Heterosexual Self-Representation in Online Conversations," in O'Riordan, ed. Queer Online, 81-100.

MaKellan, Mark. Computers, the Internet and New Media [for GLBTQ Community glbtq Encylopedia.

Mitra, Rahul. “Queer Blogging in Indian Digital Diasporas.” Journal of Communication Inquiry 32.4 (2008): 400-423.
Shaw, Adrienne. “Putting the Gay in Games.” Games and Culture 4.3 (2009): 228-253.

Nip, Joyce Y.M. "The Relationship between Online and Offline Communities: The Case of the Queer Sisters." Media, Culture & Society, Vol. 26, No. 3, 409-428 (2004).

O'Riordan, Kate. "Queer Theories and Cybersubjects," in O'Riordan, ed. Queer Online, 13-30.

---, and David Phillips, eds. Queer Online: Media Technology and Sexuality. Peter Lang, 2007.

Rak, J. "Digital Queer: Weblogs and Internet Identity." Biography 28(1) (2005): 166-182.

Shaw, Adrienne. "Putting the Gay in Games: Cultural Production and GLBT Content in Video Games."
Games and Culture, 4 (2009): 228-253.

Tsang, Daniel. "Notes on Queer 'n' Asian Virtual Sex." In David Bell and Barbara M. Kennedy. eds, Cybercultures Reader. NY: Routledge, 2002: 432-438.

Wakeford, Nina. "Cyberqueer." In David Bell and Barbara M. Kennedy. eds, Cybercultures Reader. NY: Routledge, 2002: 403-415.

Woodland, Randal. "Queer Spaces, Modem Boys and Pagan Statues: Gay/Lesbian Identity and the Construction of Cyberspace." In David Bell and Barbara M. Kennedy. eds, Cybercultures Reader. NY: Routledge, 2002: 416-431.

Organizations and Resource Sites Working on LGBTQ and ICTs