Northwestern University's Queer Pride Graduate Student Association hosted its first Queertopia Graduate Student Conference over the course of two days this previous week. A burlesque performance Fri., April 25, in Evanston was followed by a Saturday conference at Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted, that showcased current queer research.
A panel on Chicago queer history challenged the prevailing understanding of race in gay politics and culture. Tristan Cabello's 'The White Queens got Scared!' focused on Bronzeville's gay nightlife during 1935-1965. Cabello argued that the the 1930s saw an integrated African-American gay life, largely due to the rise of profitable nightclubs and drag balls that drew curious spectators from other parts of the city. By the 1950s, 'discourse on sexual regimes [ of black and white gay men ] had become very distinct,' leading to greater segregation between the two communities.
Timothy Stewart-Winter's paper, 'Rainbow Coalitions,' discussed the rise of gay power in the context of a post-civil rights era, 1973-1988. According to Stewart-Winter, while many see the African-American community as more homophobic than whites, major gay civil-rights victories have, in fact, come about because of the support from African-American politicians. Stewart-Winter focused on the Chicago gay-rights ordinance of 1988, which was first proposed by a Black South Side alderman.
Subsequent panels considered the issues facing scholars of queer social movements. Jeff Kosbie's 'Queering Studies of Gay Rights' addressed methodological concerns, including the possibility that researchers might become distant from the lived experience of their subjects. Jane Meek's 'Facing the 'Queer Dilemma' critiqued identity politics which, according to her, can't account for 'subjects … possessing multiple identities.' While it's 'required by the liberal, democratic process,' it doesn't dramatically alter the culture because 'the legal benefits mostly benefit upper middle-class and more normative members.' Meeks looked at Southerners on New Ground and Queers for Economic Justice as examples of required intersectional movement-building.
Amy Villarejo, associate professor at Cornell, gave the keynote lecture. A cinema and media studies scholar, Villarejo considered queer images in the context of a ' new, new queer cinema.' Villarejo cautioned against a focus on representation, because this assumed 'that television [ and film reflect ] the viewers, ought to do so … or that direct representation leads to political change.' She argued that, in the context of international 'queer' cinema which emerges from many different geographic, political and economic contexts, audiences and critics should consider 'the relationship between diaspora and migration' and 'a multi-platform, multitudinous queer image' while paying attention to 'world-making struggles here and elsewhere.'
Photos of the burlesque performance and conference by Kat Fitzgerald; see more at www.MysticImagesPhotography.com .
