Queering the Midwest

Forging LGBTQ Community

Clare Forstie

• Publisher: NYU Press
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN:
  9781479801879
• eBook ISBN:
  9781479801886
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Cultural & Social Anthropology
• Index: Social Sciences

How LGBTQ community life in a small Midwestern city differs from that in larger cities with established gayborhoods

River City is a small, Midwestern, postindustrial city surrounded by green hills and farmland with a population of just over 50,000. Most River City residents are white, working-class Catholics, a demographic associated with conservative sexual politics. Yet LGBTQ residents of River City describe it as a progressive, welcoming, and safe space, with active LGBTQ youth groups and regular drag shows that test the capacity of bars.

In this compelling examination of LGBTQ communities in seemingly "unfriendly" places, Queering the Midwest highlights the ambivalence of LGBTQ lives in the rural Midwest, where LGBTQ organizations and events occur occasionally but are generally not grounded in long-standing LGBTQ institutions. Drawing on in-depth interviews and ethnographic observation, Clare Forstie offers the story of a community that does not fit neatly into a narrative of progress or decline. Rather, this book reveals the contradictions of River City's LGBTQ community, where people feel both safe and unnoticed, have a sense of belonging and persistent marginalization, and have friendships that do and don't matter. These "ambivalent communities" in small Midwestern cities challenge the ways we think about LGBTQ communities and relationships and push us to embrace the contradictions, failures, and possibilities of LGBTQ communities across the American Midwest.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Epigraph
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1. River City: LGBTQ Life in a Small City
• 2. Should I Stay or Should I Go? Social Contexts of Ambivalent Experiences
• 3. Out, but Not Too Out: The Line between Inclusion and Invisibility
• 4. What Do You Mean Your Gay Friend? LGBTQ Friendships
• 5. Straight Woman in a Gay Man’s World: Allyship and Diversity Resources
• 6. “There’s Varying Degrees of Friendship in Here”: Creating Ambivalent Community
• 7. “We Haven’t Jumped over the Need for One”: Inclusive, Progressive, and Exclusive Approaches
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgments
• Appendix A: Interview Script
• Appendix B: Terminology
• Appendix C: Participants’ Descriptive Statistics
• Appendix D: Reflections on Methodology
• Notes
• References
• Index
• About the Author