The

 Lesbian  Lives  Conference  2019:    

The  Politics  of  (In)Visibility    

THE POITICS
Centre  for  Transforming  Sexuality  and  Gender  
&  
The  School  of  Media    
University  of  Brighton  
15th  -­‐  16th  March  2019  
 
  
 
 
 

Welcome!    
The  organising  team  would  like  to  welcome  you  to  the  2019  Lesbian  Lives  conference  on  the  Politics  
of  (In)Visibility.    The  theme  of  this  year’s  conference  feels  very  urgent  as  attacks  on  feminism  and  
feminists  from  both  misogynist,  homophobic,  transphobic  and  racist  quarters  are  on  the  rise  both  
here  in  the  UK  and  elsewhere.    It  has  been  thrilling  to  see  the  many  creative  and  critical  proposals  
responding  to  this  coming  in  from  academics,  students,  activists,  film-­‐makers,  writers  artists,  and  
others  working  in  diverse  sectors  from  across  many  different  countries  –  and  now  you  are  here!    

We  are  delighted  to  be  hosting  the  conference  in  collaboration  with  feminist  scholars  from  
University  College  Dublin,  St  Catharine’s  College,  Cambridge  and  Maynooth  University.  It  is  -­‐    what  
we  think  -­‐  the  24th  Lesbian  lives  conference,  although  we  are  getting  to  the  stage  where  we  might  
start  losing  count.  Let’s  just  say  it  is  now  a  conference  of  some  maturity  that  remains  relevant  in  
every  age,  as  the  world’s  most  longstanding  academic  conference  in  Lesbian  Studies.    What  we  do  
know  is  that  the  first  ever  Lesbian  Lives  Conference  was  held  in  1993  in  University  College  Dublin  
and  has  been  trooping  on  since,  with  the  dedication  of  academics  and  activists  and  the  amazing  
support  from  the  community.    From  this  comes  the  unique  atmosphere  of  the  Lesbian  Lives  
Conference  which  is  something  special  –  as  Katherine  O’Donnell,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  
conference,  said:  ‘there  is  a  friendliness,  a  warmth,  an  excitement,  an  openness,  a  bravery  and  
gentleness  that  every  Lesbian  Lives  Conference  has  generated’.    

We  are  very  pleased  to  welcome  Katherine  who  has  been  so  central  to  the  conference,  as  one  of  our  
keynotes  this  year,  for  something  that  is  going  to  be  very  special,  alongside  Phyll  Opoku-­‐Gyimah,  the  
amazing  Director  and  Co-­‐Founder  of  UK  Black  Pride  and  activist-­‐scholar  and  researcher  of  grassroots  
feminist  social  movements  Julia  Downes.    

   

We  would  like  to  thank  The  School  of  Media  for  supporting  the  conference,  and  I  would  like  to  
especially  thank  the  administrative  team  and  our  volunteers  for  all  their  hard  work.    

Thank  you  also  to  all  delegates  who  at  this  conference  will  come  together  to  further  probe  what  the  
politics  of  (in)visibility  means  to  the  LGBTQ  community  and  individuals  today,  and  we  look  forward  
to  two  days  of    stimulating  papers,  debates,    performances,    workshops  and  screenings.    

Olu
 

Olu  Jenzen  on  behalf  of  the  Conference  Committee:    

Kath  Browne,  Caroline  Gonda,  Jenny  Keane,  Irmi  Karl,  Katherine  O’Donnell  and  Patricia  Pietro-­‐Blanco  

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Keynotes  
Phyll  Opoku-­‐Gyimah,  Executive  Director  and  Co-­‐Founder  of  UK  Black  Pride  

UK  Black  Pride,  Intersectionality,  Race,  Gender  and  Class  

Widely  known  as  Lady  Phyll  –  partly  due  to  her  decision  to  reject  an  MBE  in  the  New  Year’s  Honours’  
list  to  protest  Britain’s  role  in  formulating  anti-­‐LGBT  penal  codes  across  its  empire  –  she  is  a  senior  
official  at  the  Public  and  Commercial  Services  (PCS)  trade  union  as  the  Head  of  Equality  &  Learning,  
as  well  as  a  community  builder  and  organiser;  a  Stonewall  Trustee;  Diva  Magazine  columnist,  and  
public  speaker  focusing  on  race,  gender  sexuality  and  class  and  intersectionality.  Phyll  has  been  
nominated  for  and  won  numerous  accolades  including  the  European  Diversity  Awards  Campaigner  of  
the  Year  in  2017,  she  is  also  in  the  top  10  on  World  Pride  Power  list.  Phyll  is  also  the  co-­‐editor  and  
author  of  the  ‘Sista’  Anthology,  writing  by  and  about  same  gender  loving  women  of  African  
Caribbean  descent  with  a  UK  connection.  Phyll  is  a  working  class,  family-­‐orientated  Ghanaian  woman  
who  understands  the  Twi  and  Fanti  languages  which  connect  her  to  a  rich  African  cultural  heritage  
that  advocates  for  unity  and  equality.  She  also  prides  herself  on  being  a  passionate  activist  who  
commits  to  working  diligently  to  make  people  aware  of  on-­‐going  inequalities  and  injustices  facing  
the  Black  LGBT+  community.  She  has  worked  tirelessly  to  build  up  UK  Black  Pride  by  bringing  
together  artists,  activists,  volunteers  and  supporters  from  across  the  LGBT+  community.  Phyll  
supports  Paris  Black  Pride  and  ensures  UK  Black  Pride  is  part  of  the  International  Federation  of  Black  
Prides  around  the  world.  

Phyll  cites  her  maxim  as  a  quotation  from  Maya  Angelou:  ‘prejudice  is  a  burden  that  confuses  the  
past,  threatens  the  future  and  renders  the  present  inaccessible’.  

Katherine  O’Donnell,  Associate  Professor,  Department  of  Philosophy,  University  College  Dublin  

“Lesbians  are  not  women”:  Considering  Trans  Female  &  Lesbian  Identities,  Gender,  Safety  &  
Liberation  

This  paper  begins  with  a  personal  reflection  on  the  intoxicating  essay  of  Monique  Wittig  from  1981,  
entitled  “One  is  Not  Born  a  Woman”  where  Wittig  argues  that  a  lesbian  is  ‘not  a  woman,  either  
economically,  politically  or  ideologically.’  I  recall  how  Wittig’s  essay  allowed  many  young  lesbians  in  
the  1980s  to  think  about  female  gender  as  something  that  was  constructed  and  fixed  by  the  
demands  of  patriarchal  heterosexuality  and  her  essay  led  us  to  particular  visions  of  political  
liberation.  I  also  explore  how  Wittig’s  vision  of  the  lesbian  as  a  fugitive  from  the  class  of  ‘women’  
might  be  described  as  a  kind  of  ‘feminist  misogyny’  that  has  profound  limitations  in  imagining  and  
enacting  freedom  from  patriarchy.  The  phrase  ‘feminist  misogyny’  is  not  widely  known  but  I  think  
the  kinds  of  depiction  of  women  which  we  might  describe  as  ‘feminist  misogyny’  is  very  evident  in  
classic  feminist  texts  and  is  certainly  useful  in  describing  some  of  the  ways  in  which  I  thought  about  
femininity  for  much  of  my  life.  I  discuss  how  reading  work  by  trans  lesbians  helped  me  to  recognise  
my  own  feminist  misogyny  and  offered  me  ways  to  revaluate  the  category  of  ‘woman’  and  how  I  
might  relate  to  this  identity.  

I  propose  that  revisiting  Wittig’s  remarkable  essay  allows  us  a  lens  through  which  we  might  gently  
consider  polarised  depictions  of  trans  women  by  those  who  hold  trans  exclusionary  radical  feminist  
positions.  The  paper  concludes  with  a  discussion  of  how  we  might  understand  trans  female  
identities  to  overlap  and  diverge  with  cis  lesbian  identities,  proposing  that  the  similarities  of  

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experience  in  relation  to  gender  norms  might  be  the  very  reason  for  moments  of  incomprehension  
or  misrecognition  between  the  two  groups.  

Katherine  O’Donnell  is  Assoc.  Prof.  History  of  Ideas,  UCD  School  of  Philosophy  and  is  a  member  of  
Justice  for  Magdalenes  Research.  She  studied  feminist  philosophy  with  Mary  Daly  at  Boston  College  
and  also  studied  at  University  of  California  at  Berkeley  while  completing  her  Ph.D.  thesis  on  the  
Gaelic  background  to  Edmund  Burke’s  political  thought.  She  was  appointed  as  a  College  Lecturer  in  
Women’s  Studies  in  UCD  and  went  on  to  become  Director  of    UCD  Women’s  Studies  Centre,  a  
position  she  held  for  ten  years  until  2015.  She  has  been  involved  in  Queer  and  Feminist  activist  
politics  in  Ireland  since  1983  (including  being  a  co-­‐founder  of  the  Irish  Queer  Archive  held  by  the  
National  Library  of  Ireland)  and  she  has  been  a  key  organiser  in  the  Lesbian  Lives  Conference  since  
1997.  In  the  academic  years  2015/16  and  2016/17  she  taught  modules  in  Feminist  Philosophy  on  the  
University  of  Oxford’s  B.Phil  programme.  In  2017  she  was  appointed  to  her  current  position  as  
Assoc.  Prof.  in  the  History  of  Ideas  at  UCD.  She  has  published  widely  in  the  history  of  sexuality  and  
gender  and  also  the  intellectual  history  of  Eighteenth  Century  Ireland.  

Julia  Downes,  Lecturer  in  Criminology,  The  Open  University,  UK  

Re-­‐imagining  an  End  to  Gendered  Violence:  Prefiguring  the  worlds  we  want  

With  discussant:    Dr  Deanna  Dadusc,  University  of  Brighton      

Dr  Julia  Downes  is  a  Lecturer  in  Criminology  in  the  Faculty  of  Arts  and  Social  Sciences  at  The  Open  
University  (UK).  She  is  recognised  as  an  activist-­‐scholar  and  researcher  of  grassroots  feminist  social  
movements  and  anti-­‐carceral  feminist  approaches  to  gendered  violence,  abuse  and  harms.  She  was  
awarded  funding  from  the  Feminist  Review  Trust  in  2015  to  support  a  collaborative  research  project  
with  survivors  within  grassroots  social  movements  in  the  UK.  This  resulted  in  an  accessible  report  
and  toolkit,  blogs  and  workshop  programmes  to  support  transformative  justice  approaches  to  
violence  and  harm  within  grassroots  social  movements.  This  activity  led  to  invitations  to  speak  
internationally  for  the  Candidature  of  Popular  Unity  (Catalonia)  and  the  University  of  the  Basque  
Country.  

Throughout  her  career  she  has  made  academic  contributions  to  contemporary  understandings  of  
gendered  violence,  ethics  and  research  practice  and  grassroots  social  movements  including  journals:  
Women’s  Studies  (2012),  Graduate  Journal  of  Social  Science  (2013)  Sociological  Research  Online  
(2014)  and  Justice,  Power  and  Resistance  (2017)  and  edited  book  collections  including:  Sexual  
Violence  and  Restorative  Justice  (E.  Zinsstag  &  M.  Keenan,  Routledge  2017),  Women’s  Legal  
Landmarks  (R.  Auchmuty  &  E.  Rackley,  Hart  2018)  and  Resisting  the  Punitive  State  (J.  Greener,  E.  
Hart  &  R.  Moth,  Pluto  2019).  She  is  a  founding  member  of  the  salvage  collective  and  coordinator  of  
Sheffield  Transformative  Justice  Learning  Group.  

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Panel  papers,  performances  and  workshops  

(in  alphabetical  order,  as  provided  by  delegates)  

Author’s  Name(s):  Kris  Beaghton    

Institution/Affiliation:  PhD  student,  Centre  for  Film  and  Screen,  Clare  College,  University  of  Cambridge.  
 
Title:  Off-­‐screen  space:  Barbara  Hammer’s  lesbian  experimental  cinema    

Abstract:  

Barbara  Hammer  is  widely  considered  to  be  the  “first”  or  “most  prolific”  experimental  lesbian  
filmmaker.  Since  the  1960s,  she  has  created  over  80  films,  as  well  as  performances,  sculptures,  
installations,  poetry,  prose,  and  essays.  This  paper  explores  how  Hammer’s  cinema  contributes  to  
on-­‐going  debates  surrounding  lesbian  self-­‐identification,  resistance  to  categorization,  critical  
negativity  versus  utopianism,  and  the  role  of  aesthetic  or  intellectual  experimentation  in  queer  
activism.  In  Dyketactics  (1974),  often  called  the  “first  lesbian  lovemaking  film  made  by  a  lesbian,”  
Hammer  uses  superimposition  and  editing  techniques  to  question  the  distinction  between  essence  
and  performance.  In  works  such  as  Pond  and  Waterfall  (1982)  and  Bent  Time  (1983),  she  tackles  the  
politics  of  lesbian  representation  and  the  pressures  of  the  avant-­‐garde  art  market,  asking  what  it  
means  to  make  a  “lesbian  film”  without  any  reference  to  lesbianism.  Available  Space  (1978)  
addresses  the  boundaries  of  lesbian  intimacy  by  doing  away  with  the  limits  of  the  screen  itself,  while  
Audience  (1982)  documents  the  responses  to  Hammer’s  portrayals  of  lesbianism.  In  Nitrate  Kisses  
(1992),  Hammer  interjects  archival  footage  with  erotic  performances  to  ask  what  we,  as  queer  
activists  or  artists,  censor  within  our  own  communities.  Hammer’s  work  is  itself  often  neglected  in  
histories  of  lesbian  cinema  due  to  its  formal  experimentation,  and  from  accounts  of  avant-­‐garde  film  
history  due  to  its  lesbian  content.  In  “The  Invisible  Screen:  Lesbian  Cinema”  (1988),  Hammer  writes:  
‘In  physics,  light  can  be  understood  through  wave  and  particle  theories  at  the  same  time.  So,  too,  
there  can  be  multiple,  coexisting  and  different  theories  and  understandings  of  “lesbianisms”  through  
a  variety  of  readings.’  Refusing  to  see  form  and  content  as  separable,  Hammer’s  experimental  
cinema  makes  room  for  what  Teresa  de  Lauretis  has  called  the  “off-­‐screen  space”  between  multiple  
readings  of  lesbian  art  and  politics.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Rita  Béres-­‐Deák,  PhD    

Institution/Affiliation:  Independent  Scholar  

Title:    Revisiting  the  lesbian  closet:  Hungarian  lesbians’  decisions  not  to  come  out  in  their  families  of  
origin    

Abstract:  

The  politics  of  visibility  maintains  that  coming  out  is  essential  for  the  social  acceptance  and  
emancipation  of  lesbians,  as  well  as  for  their  personal  well-­‐being  (Dank  2000).  In  this  model,  those  
who  stay  closeted  from  their  immediate  environment  are  seen  as  struggling  with  internalized  
homophobia  or  worried  about  their  personal  safety.  While  some  researchers  do  problematize  this  
approach  to  coming  out  in  non-­‐European  contexts  (e.g.  Boellstorff  2005,  Decena  2008),  it  is  widely  
assumed  also  in  academic  circles  that  Western-­‐type  gay  and  lesbian  identities  automatically  connect  
to  an  ethics  of  visibility  characteristic  of  North  American  and  Western  European  activism.  

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I  would  like  to  problematize  this  approach  with  examples  of  women  I  have  interviewed  during  my  
ethnographic  fieldwork  in  Hungary,  which  focused  on  the  relationship  between  same-­‐sex  couples  
and  their  families  of  origin.  In  this  context,  maintaining  connections  with  the  family  of  origin  is  
essential  for  the  survival  of  lesbians  in  practical  and  emotional  terms,  and    giving  up  individual  goals  
for  the  sake  of  the  family  unit  is  widespread  practice,  including  within  the  LGBTQ  community.  I  will  
demonstrate  that  staying  closeted  from  the  family  of  origin  may  be  motivated  by  emotional  
distance,  a  family  culture  of  not  talking  about  sexuality,  or  even  concern  for  other  family  members’  
well-­‐being.  I  will  argue  that  coming  out  and  the  closet  should  be  reinterpreted  in  a  way  that  
examines  context,  power  relations  and  agency.  

Author’s  Name(s):  Dagmar  Brunow    

Institution/Affiliation:  Senior  Lecturer  in  Film  Studies,  Institutionen  för  film  och  litteratur,  
Fakulteten  för  konst  och  humaniora  Linnaeus  University  (Sweden)  

Title:  From  the  safe  space  into  cyberspace?  The  ambivalence  of  lesbian  visibility  in  film  archives    

Abstract:  

Visibility  has  long  been  an  important  goal  in  European  lesbian  activism  and  an  important  means  of  
political  empowerment.  Yet,  visibility  can  also  bring  about  an  increased  vulnerability  for  
marginalized  groups,  especially  in  times  of  hate  speech  and  an  increasing  political  backlash.  
Moreover,  we  need  to  ask:  whose  visibility  is  recognized  by  whom,  and  on  what  grounds?  In  my  
paper  I  look  at  the  ways  both  national  and  grassroots  film  archives  recognize  lesbian  lives  through  
collection  and  selection  policies,  through  the  use  of  metadata  and  via  the  curation  of  online  access.  
Presenting  case  studies  from  the  Swedish  and  British  Film  Institutes,  from  the  Hamburg-­‐based  
archive  bildwechsel  as  well  as  the  Lesbian  Home  Movie  Project  in  Maine,  this  paper  discusses  the  
ambivalence  of  lesbian  visibility  after  (amateur)  film  footage  has  left  the  safe  space  of  the  archive  to  
be  widely  circulated  online.  The  paper  looks  at  legal  and  ethical  challenges  archivists  are  facing  when  
dealing  with  nudity,  lesbian  affection  and  other  representations  which  challenge  hegemonic  
heteronormative  scopic  regimes.  How  can  an  ethically  conducted  archival  practice  be  guaranteed?  
How  can  archives  avoid  making  lesbian  lives  invisible  again?  This  paper  presents  some  of  the  results  
of  my  research  project  “The  Cultural  Heritage  of  the  Moving  Image”  (Swedish  Research  Council  
2016-­‐2018).    

Author’s  Name(s):  Mima  Cabadağ  &  Gülden  Ediger    

Institution/Affiliation:  Croatian  writer,  film  and  cultural  critic,  and  a  lesbian/feminist  activist.  And  
PhD  at  the  Europa  University  Viadrina.  

Title:  Lesbian  polytics:  From  the  screen  to  the  sheets  and  into  the  streets    

Abstract:  

For  at  least  half  a  century  lesbian  (mainstream)  on-­‐screen  representations  have  been  focus  of  much  
academic  and  activist  critique  and  discontent  –  (re)producing  stereotypes  of  lesbian/female  
sexuality  has  been  extremely  reductive  and  thus  oppressive  and  stifling  to  political  potentials  of  sex  
and  desire  that  excludes  men  and  through  this  ellipsis  challenges  (hetero)patriarchy.  Luckily,  this  
critique,  alongside  political  movements,  micro-­‐  and  macroactivist  endeavours  in  outing  different  
kinds  of  lesbianism  and  female  sexuality,  have  borne  fruit  –  and  much  of  it  of  visual  kind.  Indeed,  it  
can  be  claimed  that  the  mainstream  celluloid  and  digital  portrayals  of  lesbians  are  more  versatile  

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and  complex  than  ever  before  –  with  TV  shows  such  as  the  L-­‐Word  running  for  as  many  as  6  seasons  
(and  the  7th  on  the  way!)1  –  catapulting  lesbianism,  in  word  and  in  action,  into  the  heart  of  
mainstream,  yet  aiming  for  female/lesbian  gaze,  for  a  change.  However,  as  victories  for  lesbian  
visibility  can  rightfully  be  celebrated  (wholeheartedly,  or  with  a  grain  of  salt)  –  a  new  "alternative"  
sexual  battleground  is  slowly  being  laid  out  in  mainstream/popular  culture,  this  one  also  embracing  
(representations  of)  lesbian  desire:  polyamory.  

In  the  workshop  we  will  briefly  present  the  concept(s)  of  polyamory,  particularly  with  regards  to  
lesbian  polyamorous  practices,  offering  the  main  findings  and  insights  of  existing  literature  (the  
extent  will  depend  on  the  participants'  experience  and  knowledge  of  the  topic).  As  is  usually  the  
case,  male  sexuality  prevails  in  the  materials  representing  polyamory,  but  we  will  dig  deeper  and  
offer  closer  readings  of  more  popular  and  visible  films  and  series  representing  lesbian  polyamorous  
desire/practices  (from  dubiously  polyamorous  Allen's  Vicky  Cristina  Barcelona  to  Angela  Robinson's  
Professor  Marston  and  the  Wonder  Women,  or  the  latest  Netflix  series  Wanderlust).  The  main  aim  
of  the  workshop,  however,  is  to  encourage  and  spark  up  a  passionate  discussion  about  political  
potentials  of  lesbian  polyamory  and  female  non-­‐monogamous  desire,  and  perhaps  seduce  some  
participants  into  partaking  in  this  revolution.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Nazlı  Cabadağ  &  Gülden  Ediger    

Institution/Affiliation:  activist    And  PhD  at  the  Europa  University  Viadrina.  

Title:  Queer  haven  Berlin?:  Lesbian*  visibility  within  the  queer  of  colour  discourse  in  Berlin    

Abstract:  

Since  the  1960s  Berlin  has  been  a  destination  for  various  waves  of  migrants  from  Turkey.  Amongst  
the  many  migrating  groups,  Turkish  speaking  queers  have  been  largely  neglected  in  the  mainstream,  
as  well  as  academic  and  activist  discourses  on  migration.  In  the  literature,  most  of  the  debate  
focuses  on  space-­‐making  practices  of  Türkiyeli1  queers,  and  most  of  the  academic  work  foregrounds  
male  sexuality  and  racial  dynamics  among  male  queers.  Lesbians*  of  colour  as  sexualized  and  
racialized  subjects  who  negotiate  their  place  and  voice  in  the  gay-­‐dominated  Berlin  queer  scene  
have  been  neglected  in  most  of  these  discussions.  Recently,  with  the  new  wave  of  queer  migrants  
from  Turkey,  Turkish  speaking  queers  started  a  group  called  Kuir  Lubun  Berlin.  The  group  brings  
together  LGBTI+s  of  various  class,  generation,  legal  status,  activist  experience,  which  is  particularly  
important  in  the  current  political  climate  of  the  global  rise  of  the  right.  

The  FLT*  (women/lesbian/trans)  section  of  the  group,  that  we  are  active  members  of,  works  on  the  
particular  questions  related  to  the  struggles  and  visibility  of  the  FLT*  of  colour.  In  the  workshop  and  
discussion  we  will  explore  what  we  believe  is  the  radical  potential  of  the  Türkiyeli  FLT*  activism  in  
unsettling  the  dominant  narratives  of  migration  with  a  twofold  intervention;  first  to  the  
heterosexualized  history  of  labour  migration  between  two  countries,  and  second  to  the  West-­‐centric  
sexist  queer  scene  in  Berlin.  We  want  to  engage  with  FLT*  activists  and  academics  (of  colour),  
sharing  insights,  experiences  and  arguments  in  order  to  enrich  and  contribute  to  the  existing  
research  focusing  on  migration,  sexuality  and  ethnicized/racialized  difference  that  would  challenge  
Western  neoliberal  accounts  of  queer  subjecthood.  We  want  to  give  an  input  we  will  play  a  keyword  
game  that  we  will  incorporate  our  own  personal  stories  and  research  findings,  and  conduct  a  
fishbowl  discussion  with  the  questions  arising  from  the  game.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Claudia  Carvell    

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Institution/Affiliation:  LGBT  Foundation  

Title:  The  Sexual  Wellbeing  of  Women  Who  Have  Sex  With  Women  –  What  Do  We  Know?  

Abstract:  

Manchester  based  charity  -­‐  LGBT  Foundation  –  run  one  of  the  only  funded  wellbeing  programmes  
exclusively  for  lesbian  and  bi  women,  in  the  country,  including  advice  and  guidance  on  sexual  health  
and  relationships.  In  response  to  the  missing  evidence  base  on  these  topics,  in  2017  we  conducted  
the  largest  known  National  Sexual  Wellbeing  Survey  for  Women  Who  Have  Sex  With  Women  
(WSW),  receiving  over  2,500  responses  in  just  4  months.    

Under  the  headings  “Wellbeing,  Confidence  and  Communication”,  “Knowledge  and  Access  to  
Support”  and  “Abuse  and  Risk”,  this  survey  has  asked  women  who  have  sex  with  women  a  broad  
range  of  questions  around  sexual  wellbeing  including  on  pleasure,  body  confidence,  minority  
identities,  testing,  what  constitutes  “having  sex”,  negotiating  consent,  group  sex  and  much  more.    

Following  the  analysis  of  this  data  in  December  2018,  which  will  be  overseen  by  renowned  
researcher  around  sexual  orientation  and  health  –  Professor  Catherine  Meads,  LGBT  Foundation  
would  like  to  present  the  key  findings  to  your  audience  of  stakeholders  and  influencers  and  
workshop  together  the  “What  next?”  questions  with  the  aim  of  identifying  and  meeting  the  sexual  
wellbeing  needs  of  our  WSW  communities  in  the  years  to  come.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Rose  Collis    

Institution/Affiliation:    

Title:  FORTY  YEARS  OUT  (AND  COUNTING)  —  AN  ILLUSTRATED  PRESENTATION    

Abstract:  

In  1979,  a  20-­‐year-­‐old  London  lesbian  —  who  had  come  out  to  friends  the  previous  year  —  attended  
her  first  Gay  Pride  March.  Both  events  marked  the  beginning  of  my  40  year  (and  counting)  personal,  
political  and  cultural  journey  as  lesbian  activist,  performer,  writer  and  historian,  reflected  in  my  
substantial  private  archive  which  chronicles  and  reflects  the  social  and  political  history  and  evolution  
of  a  community’s  fight  for  equality  and  justice:  the  battles,  campaigns,  victories  and  losses.    

Jan  Pimblett  at  London  Metropolitan  Archives  has  said,  ‘History  is  a  set  of  examples’.  And  it  has  been  
my  fate  to  have  witnessed,  participated  in  and  chronicled  many  such  ‘examples’.    

They  include:    

•  Early  80s  Gay  Pride  and  Lesbian  Strength  marches  

•  The  role  of  Oval  House  Theatre  in  lesbian  and  gay  performance/activism  

•  The  fight  to  save  ‘Gay’s  the  Word’  

•  The  creation  of  ground-­‐breaking  documentary  Framed  Youth    

•  The  community’s  response  to  the  AIDS  crisis  

•  The  battles  against  Section  28,  including  the  founding  of  Stonewall  

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•  And,  most  importantly,  my  four  years  as  first  lesbian  co-­‐editor  of  City  Limits  magazine’s  ‘Out  in  the  
City’  section  

This  presentation  affords  a  rare  opportunity  to  explore  forty  years  of  lesbian  history  and  experience,  
featuring  first-­‐hand  anecdotes,  cuttings,  photos  and  ephemera  from  my  archive  —  a  ‘taster’  for  a  
major  multi-­‐media  project  that  will  be  produced  in  2019.  This  will  include  online/physical  
exhibitions;  public  engagement  events  throughout  the  UK,  and  a  new  mixed  media  solo  stage  show,  
written  and  performed  by  me.  In  the  last  year,  there  have  been  shows  by  David  Hoyle,  Alexis  
Gregory  and  Flaming  Theatre  that  have  focused  on  the  gay  men’s  version  of  our  community’s  
history—  now  it’s  time  to  ‘flag  up  the  lesbian’.  The  stories,  the  songs,  the  slogans,  the  sit-­‐downs,  the  
sorrows  and  the  solidarity.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Angela  Cooper    

Title:  Invisible  Women  (Film  screening  and  Q&A)  

Abstract:    

INVISIBLE  WOMEN  is  a  short  documentary  that  will  tell  the  untold  story  of  the  North  West’s  LGBTQ  
past  over  the  last  50  years  through  the  lens  of  two  women’s  incredible  journey  of  activism  and  
rebellion.          

Angela  and  Luchia  have  spent  the  last  half  a  century  fighting  for  their  rights  as  women  and  as  
lesbians.  Their  work  has  revolutionised  Manchester  whilst  transforming  the  lives  of  thousands  of  
women  and  yet  no  record  of  them  exists  in  the  city’s  archives;  theirs  is  a  story  that  risks  disappearing  
from  history.  We  want  to  change  that  with  the  film  Invisible  Women.    

The  Story:  Manchester,  1969.  Luchia  Fitzgerald,  a  teenage  Lesbian  runaway  from  Ireland  struggles  to  
survive  on  the  streets  of  Manchester.  She’s  arrested  and  sent  for  a  lobotomy  to  cure  her  of  her  
“deviant  sexual  tendencies”.  Luchia  escapes  the  lobotomy  to  seek  solace  in  the  New  Union,  a  pub  at  
the  epicentre  of  Manchester’s  underground  gay  community.      

Luchia  is  at  her  lowest  ebb  when  she  hears  a  female  student  at  the  next  table  giving  voice  to  every  
frustration  she  felt;  Luchia  pulls  up  a  chair  to  listen.  That  student  was  Angela  and  this  chance  
encounter  sparked  a  relationship  that  has  endured  fifty  years  of  euphoric  highs  and  earth-­‐shattering  
lows  in  the  struggle  to  change  life  for  ALL  women.    

Under  Angela’s  wing  Luchia  is  educated  and  politicised  through  the  burgeoning  women’s  lib  
movement  of  the  1970s.  The  pair  fall  in  love  and  form  the  Manchester  branch  of  the  GLF  (Gay  
Liberation  Front).  Together  they  experiment  with  activism  beginning  by  painting  “Lesbians  are  
everywhere”  in  yellow  across  Manchester.  The  couple  then  progress  to  helping  form  a  rock  band,  
opening  a  printing  press  and  squatting  a  house  that  would  become  the  city’s  first  women’s  centre  
inspiring  other  local  women  in  the  process.  When  the  police  ask  Angela  and  Luchia  to  start  looking  
after  battered  wives  Manchester’s  first  women’s  refuge  is  formed.  

As  their  work  gains  a  momentum  of  its  own  and  changes  lives  beyond  the  city  Angela  and  Luchia’s  
love  affair  begins  to  falter.  The  GLF  disbands,  the  band  splits  up  and  the  printing  press  closes.  It’s  the  
1980s  and  things  are  moving  backwards  not  forwards.  Set  against  this  landscape  of  apathy  comes  a  

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bombshell:  Thatcher’s  repressive  Section  28  bill.  It  is  this  attack  against  their  hard-­‐won  rights  that  
forces  the  women  to  reunite  and  transform  the  city  once  again.    

WHY  THIS  FILM  MATTERS    

2017  witnessed  a  rich  variety  of  programmes  and  films  that  explored  the  50  years  since  the  partial  
decriminalization  of  homosexuality.  However,  the  vast  majority  of  this  work  focused  almost  
exclusively  on  the  experience  of  white,  middle-­‐class  gay  men  from  London.  The  women’s  story,  and  
particularly  the  story  of  regional  working-­‐class  women,  has  largely  been  ignored.    

Whilst  the  film  is  ostensibly  about  Angela  and  Luchia's  personal  and  political  journey  we  are  using  
their  relationship  to  explore  Manchester  and,  in  particular,  the  forgotten  and,  up  until  now,  untold  
story  of  the  North  West’s  LGBTQ  past  through  a  working  class  lens  of  rebellion  and  activism  which  is  
still  alive  today:  Angela  and  Luchia  are  still  very  much  fighting  for  their  rights  and  the  rights  of  LGBTQ  
people  in  Manchester.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Alice  Denny    

Title:  Poetry  show    

Abstract:  

The  poems  tell  a  story  and  a  describe  the  world  from  the  position  of  a  transgender  lesbian  (  me)  
whilst  raising  issues  of  women’s  position  in  society,  our  sense  of  self  worth,  the  place  of  transgender  
women    in  the  world  and  our  acceptance  and  otherwise  within  womankind  and  specifically  the    
lesbian  community.  

I  hope  to  stimulate  thought  and  encourage  honest  debate  on  the  above  topics  and  to  perhaps  allay  
some  perceived  fears  or  misconceptions.  The  poems  cover  issues  of  acceptance  and  erasure  
including  from  within,  the  role  of  the  notion  of  “Queer,”  the  wonders,  the  joys  of  womanhood,  
woman  love  and  a  belief  in  the  power  of  womankind.  This  would  also  give  an  insight,  hopefully,  into  
the  emotional  lives    of  transwomen  and  trans  lesbians,  (such  as  myself)  out  total  immersion  in  and  
commitment  to  womankind  and  promote  greater  mutual  understanding.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Bryony  Evans    

Institution/Affiliation:  Independent  Scholar/  University  of  Manchester  

Title:  Beyond  the  Visible:  Articulating  Lesbian  Invisibility  Through  Vertical  Logic  and  the  Limits  of  the  
Bodily  Horizon    

Abstract:  

Through  a  reading  of  Luce  Irigaray’s  account  of  the  symbolic  order  as  still  functioning  largely  in  
accordance  with  the  Law  of  the  Father,  and  a  consideration  of  the  subsequent  feminist  
psychoanalytic  work  that  endeavours  to  mediate  the  mother/daughter  relation,  I  diagnose  a  
pervasive  and  continuing  determining  adherence  to  a  logic  of  verticality  and  filiation  in  the  symbolic  
realm.  I  suggest  that  as  a  result,  forms  of  female  relationality  that  function  on  an  explicitly  horizontal  
axis  are  largely  occluded  and  omitted  both  in  the  symbolic  register  and  in  theory.  I  argue  that  this  is  
particularly  the  case  with  regards  to  lesbian  sexuality,  which  functions  off  kilter  to  the  logic  of  
generational  transmission.  Further,  in  understanding  the  social  realm  and  phenomenological  
experience  to  be  the  sites  wherein  symbolic  structures  are  negotiated  and  enacted,  I  indicate  that  

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lesbian  sexuality  is  therefore  radically  discharged  beyond  the  (vertical)  limit  of  what  is  and  can  be  
perceived  or  tolerated  in  the  socio-­‐cultural  register,  and  as  such  lesbians  are  necessarily  rendered  
literally  ‘unseeable’.  This  invisibility,  as  I  show  both  through  reflexive  practice  and  existing  academic  
work,  reveals  itself  relentlessly  in  everyday  situations  and  as  such,  I  argue,  impedes  the  ability  to  
properly  constitute  socially  intelligible  lesbian  subjectivity(ies).  I  conclude  the  paper  by  suggesting  
that  for  lesbians  to  achieve  social  visibility  and  subjectivity  proper,  there  needs  to  be  a  fundamental  
paradigmatic  shift  in  the  symbolic  register  to  include  thinking  about  relationality  on  a  horizontal  
logic,  but  that  this  work  of  high  theory  should  not  come  at  the  expense  of  thinking  through  lived  
realities.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Sarah-­‐Joy  Ford    

Institution/Affiliation:  Post  Graduate  Researcher  at  Manchester  School  of  Art  

Title:  Queering  Suffrage:  an  embroidered  strategy  for  making  lesbian  lives  visible    

Abstract:  

This  paper  examines  textile  practice  as  a  method  for  disrupting  the  erasure  of  lesbians  from  
Women’s  Suffrage  history,  in  my  own  art  practice.  Last  year:  2018,  was  the  100-­‐year  anniversary  of  
The  Representation  of  the  People  Act  that  granted  women  in  the  UK  partial  suffrage.  In  celebration  
of  the  centenary  there  was  funding  and  support  available  for  a  wide  range  of  cultural  events  leading  
to  increasing  engagement  in  women’s  history.  However  there  was  a  lack  of  rigorous  work  
undertaken  to  challenge  the  collective  memory  of  the  suffrage  movement  as  universally  white,  
upper  class  and  hetero-­‐normative.  This  has  led  to  the  continued  obscurity  of  many  suffragettes  who  
had  meaningful  relationships  with  other  women  including  Eva  Goore-­‐Booth,  Esther  Roper  and  Ethel  
Smith.This  paper  challenges  this  invisibility  through  a  discussion  of  two  art  works  made  in  response  
to  the  Vera  ‘Jack’  Holmes  archival  collection  at  The  Women’s  Library  (LSE).  Vera  was  a  suffragette,  
actress,  chauffeuse  to  the  Pankhurst’s,  ambulance  driver,  prisoner  of  war  and  aid  worker  alongside  
her  partner  Evelina  Haverfield.  The  archive  holds  an  inventory  of  their  home  that  includes  a  wooden  
bed  with  their  initials  hand  carved  on  the  end.  Through  the  patchwork  quilt  and  embroidered  table  
cloth  this  small,  domestic  act  of  visibility  is  re-­‐imagined  in  stitch  as  a  memorial  to  lesbian  love,  
longing  and  remembrance.  Just  as  lesbians  have  been  marginalized  in  mainstream  history,  textiles  
have  been  dismissed  from  the  cannon  of  high  art  due  to  the  associations  with  women’s  work,  
domesticity  and  traditional  notions  of  femininity.  It  is  this  history  of  gendered  dismissal,  and  injury  
that  makes  textiles  such  a  powerful  method  for  challenging  historical  lesbian  erasure.  Through  
embroidery  these  works  begin  to  stitch  the  importance  of  lesbian  relationships,  alliances  and  
narratives  back  into  the  fabric  of  suffrage  history  and  memory.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Miranda  Forrester    

Institution/Affiliation:  Non  affiliated  local  artist  

Title:  Queering  the  female  Gaze:  Re-­‐examining  the  invisibility  of  lesbian  artists’    

Abstract:  

I  will  discuss  hidden  narratives  in  works  of  women  by  women,  and  talk  about  them  in  relation  to  my  
own  practice.  Taking  an  intersectional  approach,  it  is  important  to  look  at  specifically  artists  of  colour  

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whose  work  is  explicitly  or  implicitly  queer,  and  has  been  overlooked  where  other  factors  such  as  
their  gender  or  race  dominates  the  discussion  around  their  work.  There  is  a  distinct  lack  of  queer  
imagery  by  queer  artists  in  the  dominant  history  of  western  Art,  and  I  will  be  examining  how  these  
images  have  been  overlooked  or  discussed  in  a  different  context.  I  will  be  focusing  mainly  on  
Mickalene  Thomas,  Lubaina  Himid,  Laura  Knight,  and  Ghada  Amer.  Furthermore,  I  will  show  images  
of  my  work  and  give  a  little  background  about  me;  I  am  a  lesbian  painter  of  colour,  born  in  London  
and  living  in  Brighton.  My  work  explores  sexuality,  sensuality  and  intimacy  between  women,  and  
how  queer  people  have  been  or  are  restricted  to  the  domestic  sphere  and  how  this  impacts  on  their  
relationship  with  themselves  and  their  bodies.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Kirby  Fullerton    

Institution/Affiliation:  Cambridge  University  

Title:  Boundary-­‐making  and  the  Management  of  Visibility:  Lesbian  lives  in  Seoul,  South  Korea    

Abstract:  

This  paper  explores  the  boundary-­‐making  practices  of  many  Korean  lesbians,  understanding  them  as  
strategies  to  create  ‘lesbian  space’  separate  from  male-­‐dominated,  heterosexual,  Korean  society,  
and  to  reduce  the  risk  of  being  outed  publicly.  I  address  the  question  of  why  these  spaces  exclude  
heterosexual  men  and  woman,  homosexual  men  and  are  suspicious  of  female  bisexuals  and  gender  
non-­‐conforming  individuals,  arguing  that  this  boundary  making  allows  for  the  protection  and  
construction  of  lesbian  subjectivity  in  the  context  of  a  Korean  militarised  patriarchal  state,  where  
men  dominate  cultural  and  political  positions  of  authority  (Moon  2005).  Drawing  upon  
anthropologist  Mary  Douglas's  theory  of  pollution  as  expulsion  of  “matter  out  of  place",  I  analyse  the  
productive  function  of  the  exclusionary  strategies  women  use  to  maintain  lesbian  spaces  (1966:3).  
The  exclusion  of  the  straight  male  figure  serves  to  reduce  ambiguity  and  danger  in  the  lives  of  my  
informants,  while  also  allowing  for  the  personal  management  of  visibility.  I  draw  upon  ethnographic  
research  conducted  in  Seoul,  South  Korea  in  2017  to  analyse  how  women  subvert  state  instruments  
of  control  to  create  boundaries  around  lesbian  space,  attempting  to  prevent  the  dangers  of  
masculine  pollution  (Foucault  1978;  1991).  This  illustrates  Elizabeth  Povinelli’s  theory  of  how  
recognition,  camouflage  and  espionage  are  used  by  marginalized  individuals  to  persevere  within  an  
increasingly  neoliberal  and  securitized  Korean  state  (2011:190).  I  examine  the  politics  of  boundary-­‐
making  to  reduce  ambiguity  and  masculinized  danger  in  four  lesbian  spaces:  Bar  Kwan,  Come  
Together,  the  online  forum  Lnet,  and  the  Seoul  Queer  Culture  Festival.  Exploring  decisions  individual  
lesbian  women  make  that  seem  counterintuitive  to  a  western  LGBT  framework  that  enforces  unified  
diversity  and  inclusivity;  this  works  to  centre  queer  female  experience  in  non-­‐Western  contexts,  
disturbing  the  focal  point  of  Western  gay  men  in  LGBTQ+  studies.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Doreen  Fumia    

Institution/Affiliation:  Ryerson  University,  Toronto,  Canada  

Title:  Researching  Lesbian  Ageing  using  photo  voice  

Abstract:  

After  interviewing  older  lesbians  in  Toronto,  Canada  and  Brighton,  UK  and  analysing  their  
experiences  of  aging,  I  have  learned  about  aging  on  multiple  levels.  I  have  learned  that  family,  year  
and  age  of  coming-­‐out  and  race,  cultural,  religious,  geographic  and  class  dimensions  all  have  

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profound  influences  on  aging.  I  have  also  learned  that  there  are  many  similarities  between  the  wider  
population  and  lesbians.  My  intention  is  to  focus  on  the  particular  aspects  that  arise  from  being  
lesbian.  In  order  to  tease  out  this  aspect  more,  I  have  begun  a  photovoice  project.  This  integrates  
experience  as  articulated  through  the  camera  lens  by  either  putting  a  camera  in  the  hands  of  the  
participant,  or  ‘community  researcher,’  or  journeying  with  the  CR  and  taking  photos  with  her  
direction.  Women  are  asked  to  locate  images  that  reflect  their  sense  of  aging.  This  methodology  has  
proven  successful  as  a  way  to  specifically  drill  down  into  experience  that  doesn’t  solely  rely  on  
written  or  spoken  words  and  the  academic  researcher  as  the  authority.  It  shifts  the  power  balance  
and  allows  for  rich  narratives  to  emerge.  In  this  presentation,  I  will  discuss  the  methodology  of  
photovoice  (Manasia,  2017)  and  briefly  reference  some  of  the  narratives  that  develop  from  the  
images  the  women  have  shared.  Drawing  on  semiotics  studies  (ex.  Barthes,  Maasik,  Solomon,  
Saussure)  I  look  at  how  ‘signs  and  signifiers’  of  aging  lesbians  tell  the  women’s  stories.  In  this  way,  
the  aim  is  to  make  what  is  often  invisible,  visible.  Signs  often  conceal  some  interest  or  other,  
whether  political  or  commercial,  and  their  proliferation  makes  it  necessary  to  decode  the  meanings  
behind  them.  Thus,  the  use  of  semiotics  is  not  intended  for  just  individual  reflection,  it  is  equally  a  
study  of  ideology  and  power.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Jacqui  Gabb  &  Katherine  Allen    

Institution/Affiliation:  Associate  Director,  Citizenship  and  Governance  Research    

Faculty  of  Arts  and  Social  Sciences,    The  Open  University,  UK  and  Virginia  Tech,  Blacksburg,  VA,  USA  
 
Title:  Who’s  in  and  who’s  out:  the  (analytical)  cost  of  research  on  LGBTQ  parenthood    
 
Abstract:  
 
There  have  been  great  advances  in  socio-­‐legal  queer  partnership  and  parenthood  rights  in  recent  
years  and  LGBTQ-­‐parent  families  are  more  visible  now  than  ever  before.  As  a  consequence  of  these  
political  gains  and  public  recognition,  LGBTQ-­‐parent  family  research  has  arguably  come  of  age.  While  
a  great  deal  of  exciting  research  is  now  appearing  around  the  globe,  we  will  show  that  this  area  also  
faces  numerous  challenges  in  the  context  of  sexuality  and  inclusivity.  Empirical  studies  typically  
instantiate  hetero-­‐gender  and  sexuality  through  insufficient  attention  to  everyday  experience  and  
the  ways  in  which  this  queers  kinship.  Geo-­‐political  and  socio-­‐cultural  contexts  are  used  as  scene-­‐
setting  rather  than  being  operationalized  to  prise  apart  the  intersections  of  public–private  
intimacies.  Biological  imperatives  are  defining  and  confining  families,  with  practices  of  conception  
invoked  to  separate  one  family  from  the  next.  We  will  address  the  conceptual,  theoretical,  
intersectional,  and  methodological  tensions  that  remain  or  have  emerged  around  qualitative  LGBTQ-­‐
parent  family  research,  focusing  on:  (a)  era,  age,  and  generation;  (b)  class,  sociocultural  capital,  and  
the  economies  of  reproductive  labour;  (c)  sexual-­‐maternal  identities.  We  contend  that  it  is  timely  for  
research  on  queer  parenthood  to  take  stock;  to  refocus  attention  onto  the  everyday  and  more  
sufficiently  contextualize  experience.  So,  our  provocation  is,  in  these  Janus-­‐faced  permissive  and  
precarious  times,  whose  lives  matter  in  research  on  LGBTQ-­‐parenthood?  How  is  ‘queer  parenthood’  
materialised?  How  can  our  research  better  reflect  contemporary  ordinary  LGBTQ  experience?    
Author’s  Name(s):  S.  Tay  Glover    

Institution/Affiliation:  Doctoral  Candidate,  Department  of  African-­‐American  Studies,  Women's  

Gender  and  Sexuality  Studies,  African  American  Studies,  Northwestern  University  
 
Title:  Exploring  Black  Queer  Lesbian  Symbolic  Annihilation  and  Southern  Black  Lesbian  Rival  
Geographies  of  Pleasure  and  Resistance    

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Abstract:  
 
Symbolic  annihilation”  is  a  term  first  used  by  Gaye  Tuchman  (1978),  but  mobilized  by  Sheena  
Howard  (2014)  in  her  research  about  Black  lesbians,  that  refers  to  the  social  phenomenon  of  media  
underrepresentation  or  near  total  absence  of  representation  whereby  the  mass  omission,  
trivialization,  and  condemnation  of  certain  groups  in  media  relays  the  group's  societal  value.  Black  
lesbian  symbolic  annihilation  is  a  term  I  mobilize  in  my  work  to  consider  more  fully  how  black  lesbian  
symbolic  annihilation  is  a  colonial,  historical-­‐material,  philosophical  and  socio-­‐cultural  construction  
that  secures  the  status  quo  and  the  Grammars  of  Blackness,  which  is  reproduced  in  society  via  
discourse,  intellectual  genealogies,  culture,  and  representation.  “Southern  horrors”  and  the  
historical  genealogical  “problematic  of  silence”  around  articulating  black  queer  female  sexuality  and  
lived  experience  in  archives,  discourse,  and  theory  are  well  documented  in  scholarship.  My  work  
interrupts  protracted  legacies  of  colonial  slavery's  impact  on  Black  Southern  lesbian  and  queer  
women  today-­‐namely  uninterrupted  patterns  of  epistemological  erasure;  and  intersectional  
spatialized,  racialized-­‐gendered,  sexual,  homophobic,  classist  violence  within  symbolic  and  material  
home  spaces-­‐through  studying  the  rival  geographies  and  alternative  economies  they  create  and  
deploy  for  belonging  and  crevices  of  power.  Renouncing  respectable  politics,  methods  of  inquiry,  
and  of  codifying  archives,  this  paper  considers  ethnography  of  Black  Southern  lesbian  pride  spaces  
and  VH1's  Love  and  Hip  Hop  Atlanta  and  Miamito  illuminate  how  the  Hip  Hop  South  and  its  music,  
entertainment,  and  sexual  economy  fosters  a  contemporary  counter-­‐culture  and  interstitial  black  
queer  sexual  geographies  where  decolonial  gestures  such  as  funky  love  (Stallings  2015),  sacred  
secularity,  the  representation  of  Black  queer/lesbian  relationships,  and  Black  queer/lesbian  femme  
crevices  of  power  (McKittrick  2006),  pleasure,  and  play  appear  in  the  context  of  the  U.S.  South's  
quare  gender  and  sexual  politics.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Caroline  Gonda    

Institution/Affiliation:  Fellow  and  Director  of  Studies  in  English  at  St  Catharine’s  College,  Cambridge.  

Title:  Queer  visions:  lesbians  in  the  archive  and  the  politics  of  (in)visibility    

Abstract:  

For  the  sculptor  Anne  Damer  (1748-­‐1828),  public  visibility  was  a  complicated  and  sometimes  
dangerous  affair.  As  Andrew  Elfenbein  suggests,  her  status  as  an  aristocrat  and  her  self-­‐presentation  
as  an  artist,  in  an  unusual  medium  for  a  woman,  both  exposed  her  to  attack  and  in  some  ways  
protected  her  from  it.    For  much  of  Damer’s  life,  Emma  Donoghue  has  argued,  she  was  “haunted  …  
by  the  social  identity  of  being  a  woman  who  desired  other  women.”  One  of  her  contemporaries  
described  Damer  as  “a  lady  much  suspected  for  liking  her  own  sex  in  a  criminal  way”,  noting  that  
“'Tis  a  joke  in  London  now  to  say  such  a  one  visits  Mrs  Damer.”    As  Donoghue  notes,  Damer  was  
seen  not  just  as  a  Sapphist  but  as  “the  epitome  of  Sapphism”;  her  hyper  visibility  in  the  role  means  
that  those  who  visit  her  are  queered  by  association.      

Damer’s  private  self  is  more  difficult  to  interpret,  not  least  because  almost  all  of  her  papers  were  
destroyed  after  her  death  at  her  request.  One  of  the  few  pieces  of  evidence  to  survive  is  a  series  of  
four  notebooks  recording  Damer’s  close  relationship  in  the  1790s  with  her  last  attachment,  Mary  
Berry.  This  paper  explores  what  the  notebooks  make  visible  as  they  frame  or  intersperse  extracts  
from  Berry’s  letters  with  quotations  from  Greek  and  Latin  literature.    While  Alison  Yarrington  has  

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noted  the  importance  of  classical  models  to  Damer’s  public  image  and  her  work  as  a  sculptor,  little  
attention  has  been  paid  to  Damer’s  private  engagement  with  the  Classics.    A  place  of  refuge  and  
resistance,  the  Classics  enable  Damer’s  construction  of  a  private  identity,  and  provide  a  way  of  
envisioning  intimate  friendship  and  same-­‐sex  love.      

Author’s  Name(s):  Alva  Gotby    

Institution/Affiliation:  University  of  West  London  

Title:  Making  work  visible:  Wages  Due  Lesbians  and  the  labour  of  queer  life    

Abstract:  

This  paper  explores  the  queer  politics  of  emotional  and  sexual  labour,  through  the  practice  and  
writings  of  the  activist  group  Wages  Due  Lesbians  (WDL).  The  group  was  part  of  the  international  
Wages  for  Housework  campaign,  a  political  movement  which  centred  on  feminised  work.  WDL  had  a  
pivotal  role  in  the  campaign,  as  their  refusal  of  sexual  and  emotional  relationships  with  men  
prefigured  the  strategy  of  the  movement  as  a  whole.    

WDL  practices  redefined  the  theme  of  visibility  within  LGBT  politics.  What  they  wanted  to  make  
visible  were  not  queer  individuals  per  se,  but  rather  the  material  conditions  of  lesbian  lives.  While  
lesbian  women  can  refuse  certain  forms  of  labour,  in  particular  the  emotional  and  sexual  labour  that  
heterosexual  women  perform  for  their  male  partners,  the  lived  reality  of  lesbians  calls  for  other  
forms  of  labour.  In  particular,  lesbians  work  to  build  alternative  forms  of  sociality  in  the  face  of  a  
hostile  society.  This  work,  WDL  argued,  is  often  invisible  in  both  feminist  and  LGBT  movements.  
Through  calling  for  a  wage  for  this  work,  WDL  strived  to  highlight  both  the  utopian  potentials  and  
daily  struggles  of  lesbian  life.    

In  making  visible  the  everyday  material  practices  of  lesbianism,  WDL  also  wished  to  emphasise  the  
class-­‐differentiated  conditions  of  queerness.  Striving  to  make  lesbian  politics  discernible  as  part  of  a  
broad  working-­‐class  struggle,  they  were  persistently  critical  both  of  bourgeois  gay  politics  and  leftist  
movements  that  neglected  issues  around  sexuality.  Their  politics  of  visibility,  then,  aimed  to  
politicise  the  everyday  and  create  the  potential  for  new  forms  of  sociality.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Ann  Marie  Hanlon    

Institution/Affiliation:  Programme  Director,  BA  (Hons)  in  Applied  Music  /  Lecturer  in  Music  
 Dundalk  Institute  of  Technology  

Title:  The  Politics  of  Visibility  in  Irish  Popular  Music    

Abstract:  

In  1992  the  pop-­‐jazz  duo  Zrazy,  vocalist  Maria  Walsh  and  saxophonist  and  pianist  Carole  Nelson,  
emerged  on  the  Irish  popular  music  scene  with  the  release  of  their  first  album  Give  it  all  Up.  
Importantly,  from  the  outset,  Walsh  and  Nelson  decided  that  they  would  be  out  as  lesbians,  a  brave  
and  bold  political  move  in  a  conservative  period  of  Irish  history  characterised  by  Catholic  hegemony,  
and  in  which  homosexuality  was  still  illegal.  They  are  icons  for  many  lesbian  women,  particularly  
those  who  grew  up  in  Ireland  at  a  time  when  the  sexual  identity  of  lesbian  was  shrouded  in  shame  
and  secrecy.  Songs  such  as  'Come  Out  Everybody'  (1997)  and  'You  Make  Me  Happy'  (2015)  address  

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LGBTQ+  themes  and  the  duo  have  won  awards  recognising  their  contribution  to  LGBTQ+  cultural  life,  
including  an  Out  Music  Award  and  a  Gay  and  Lesbian  Music  Award  (GLAMA).    

Zrazy  stand  out  amongst  their  peers  in  their  consistent  commitment  to  making  explicitly  lesbian  
feminist  art  and  they  are  a  rare  Irish  example  of  "women's  music"  -­‐  a  musical  genre  that  emerged  in  
the  1970s  as  a  cultural  manifestation  of  second-­‐wave  feminism  and  the  women's  liberation  
movement  in  the  United  States.  Over  the  course  of  their  twenty-­‐six  year  long  career  their  musical  
output  has  engaged  in  a  range  of  Irish  socio-­‐cultural  debates,  from  the  abortion  referendums  in  the  
1990s  and  2010s  to  the  role  of  women  in  the  1916  Easter  Rising.  Ahmed  argues  that  lesbian  and  
radical  feminist  politics  are  characterised  by  'wilfulness'  defined  by  the  acts  of  standing  against  and  
as  creativity  (Ahmed,  2017).  This  research  explores  Zrazy's  lesbian  feminist  art  as  a  site  of  activism  
and  protest  and  investigates  how  they  have  used  their  unique  position,  their  visible  position,  in  a  
period  of  almost  complete  invisibility  to  engage  in  a  variety  of  cultural  battles  for  women's  rights  in  
Ireland.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Evan  Hazenberg    

Affiliation/  Institution:  Lecturer  in  English  Language  and  Linguistics,  School  of  English,  University  of  
Sussex    

Title:  ‘Sounding  lesbian’  in  New  Zealand:    Then  and  now    

Abstract:  

Lesbian  identities  have  tended  to  be  invisible  in  the  linguistic  study  of  the  sociophonetics  of  
sexuality.    This  has  partly  been  because  of  the  high  social  salience  associated  with  ‘gay-­‐sounding’  
men,  but  also  arguably  because  there  are  qualitative  differences  in  the  tensions  that  exist  between  
gay  and  heteronormative  masculinities,  and  those  that  exist  between  lesbians  and  heteronormative  
femininities  (Zwicky  1997;  Cameron  2011).    

 New  Zealand  presents  an  interesting  case  study  to  examine  the  sociophonetic  landscape  of  gender  
and  sexuality  in  a  context  where  an  oppositional  relationship  has  existed  between  normative  and  
non-­‐normative  femininities.    Homosexuality  was  decriminalised  in  New  Zealand  in  1986,  and  
although  most  of  the  legal/moral  debate  was  focused  on  men,  the  national  discussion  also  drew  
attention  to  non-­‐heterosexual  femininities,  foregrounding  sexuality  as  a  socially  relevant  and  
politicised  dimension  of  womanhood  in  New  Zealand.    Post  law  reform,  social  attitudes  have  shifted  
dramatically  and  rapidly  towards  the  mainstreaming  of  non-­‐heteronormativities,  at  least  in  urban  
centres.      

 This  project  draws  on  two  age  groups  of  New  Zealanders  in  Auckland:  an  older  cohort  who  came  of  
age  at  a  time  of  criminalised  homosexuality,  and  a  younger  cohort  who  have  grown  up  in  an  
environment  more  broadly  supportive  of  queer  identities.    This  paper  considers  the  social  use  of  
linguistic  cues  associated  with  lesbian-­‐identified  women  in  the  specific  context  of  social  reform  in  
New  Zealand.    Differences  between  lesbians  and  straight  women  in  the  older  age  cohort  are  found  in  
three  vowels  of  New  Zealand  English,  which  are  not  salient  enough  to  be  perceived  as  stereotypes  
but  nevertheless  seem  to  index  sexuality  (see  e.g.  Pierrehumbert  et  al.  2004).    Interestingly,  these  
differences  are  neutralised  among  younger  speakers,  suggesting  that  the  rapidly-­‐diffusing  social  
changes  that  swept  New  Zealand  in  the  mid-­‐1980s  have  had  an  observable  impact  on  the  linguistic  
resources  available  for  signalling  affiliation  and  identity  within  a  speech  community.  

 Author’s  Name(s):  Dr  Nina  Held    

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Institution/Affiliation:  Research  and  Teaching  Fellow  in  Sociology  at  the  University  of  Sussex.  

Title:  ‘Here,  I  have  no  choice’:  being  a  lesbian  and  a  refugee  –Intersectional  experiences  of  time  and  
space  

Abstract:  

Whilst  Europe  is  proud  of  its  record  on  LGBTQI*  rights  and  presents  itself  as  a  haven  for  LGBTQI*  
people,  the  situation  of  individuals  who  seek  international  protection  on  grounds  of  sexual  
orientation  and/or  gender  identity  looks  rather  bleak.  Not  only  has  the  ‘welcome  culture’  (in  
Germany,  for  instance)  been  replaced  with  right-­‐wing  rhetoric  and  the  closure  of  European  borders,  
but  LGBTQI*  refugees  also  face  additional  issues  such  as  the  impossibility  of  proving  their  ‘gayness’  
and  social  isolation,  especially  when  their  claim  is  refused.  However,  these  experiences  are  not  
homogenous.  The  ‘stereotypical’  refugee  is  young,  male  and  cis-­‐gendered,  and  often  LGBTQI*  
refugee  support  groups  cater  most  for  cis-­‐male  gay  refugees.  The  experiences  of  lesbian  (and  bi  and  
trans)  refugees  often  remain  invisible.  In  this  paper,  I  will  draw  on  the  ERC-­‐funded  project  SOGICA  –  
Sexual  Orientation  and  Gender  Identity  Claims  of  Asylum  (www.sogica.org),  which  explores  the  
social  and  legal  experiences  of  LGBTQI*  in  Germany,  Italy  and  the  UK  (and  beyond).  I  will  specifically  
focus  on  the  intersectional  experiences  of  lesbian  refugees  in  Germany  and  explore  how  these  
experiences  are  not  only  shaped  by  sexuality,  gender,  ‘race’,  religion,  age  and  class  but  furthermore  
by  being  ‘marked’  as  a  refugee.  As  I  will  demonstrate,  being  a  lesbian  refugee  constitutes  the  
experiences  of  time  and  space  in  particular  ways.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Levi  Hord    

Institution/Affiliation:  MSc  student  in  Women’s  Studies  at  the  University  of  Oxford  and  a  2018  
Rhodes  Scholar.  

Title:  Non-­‐Binary  Lesbians:  Rediscovering  Lesbian  Specificity  in  ‘The  Moment  of  Trans’    

Abstract:  

How  is  lesbian  specificity  being  rearticulated  in  and  through  a  moment  of  undeniably  heightened  
transgender  visibility?  

In  the  past  two  decades,  transgender  identifications  have  notably  increased.  Non-­‐binary  gender  
identities  have  emerged  as  a  form  of  hybrid  queer-­‐trans  subjectivity  (including,  sometimes  only  
discursively,  a  movement  away  from  an  initial  gender  assignment).  The  popularity  of  “non-­‐binary”  
for  younger  generations  echoes  some  of  the  historical  tensions  between  lesbian  and  transmasculine  
identities,  as  the  particularly  and  politically  ‘queer’  openness  of  the  category  seems  to  refute  the  
need  for  a  sexual  identity  based  on  gender.  

However,  “non-­‐binary  lesbian”  has  more  recently  been  gaining  traction  as  an  identity  label,  
suggesting  that  there  is  something  about  lesbian  specificity  that  contemporary  queer  gender  
identities  cannot  fully  capture.  Besides  marking  an  important  reconstitution  of  lesbian  as  an  identity,  
I  argue  that  how  “lesbian”  is  being  chosen  to  match  and  supplement  “non-­‐binary”  will  increase  the  
visibility  of  “lesbian”  as  a  richly  specific  but  non-­‐essentialized  identity,  refuting  past  accusations  of  
narrowness.  

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Non-­‐binary  lesbian  identity  (somewhat  contentiously)  suggests  that  what  some  people  experience  as  
lesbian  specificity  is  separable  from  womanhood.  This  both  distances  lesbian  identity  from  a  fraught  
essentialist  politic  and  demands  a  new  definition  of  lesbian  specificity  rooted  in  relationality  rather  
than  internality.  Re-­‐reading  lesbian  relationality  through  a  post-­‐structuralist  foundation  of  anti-­‐  
essentialism,  this  paper  will  examine  why  “lesbian”  is  still  a  necessary  identity  in  the  “moment  of  
trans,”  and  will  demonstrate  that  rather  than  being  lost  to  either  the  openness  of  queer  or  the  
gender  politics  of  transition,  lesbianism  can  find  a  new  expansive  expression  in  the  intersubjective  
spaces  left  unfilled.  

Non-­‐binary  lesbians  may  expose  a  lesbian  specificity  that  honours  rich  veins  of  history  and  feeling  
while  taking  a  trans  ethos  as  foundational,  reiterating  lesbianism  in  a  form  primed  for  21st  century  
gender  politics.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Jane  Hoy    

Title:  Hiding  in  Plain  Sight  

Abstract:  

In  this  multimedia  presentation  we  use  live  theatre,  slides  and  music  to  ask  how  a  female  couple  in  
the  late  18th  century  manipulated  the  in/visibility  of  their  relationship–    and  how  later  
commentators  made  them  more  visible.  We  are  Living  Histories  Cymru,  creating  theatre  from  the  
queer  histories  of  Wales.    

Jane  Hoy  was  previously  a  lecturer  in  adult  learning  at  Birkbeck,  University  of  London.  She  now  lives  
in  Mid  Wales  where  she  is  involved  in  lesbian  history  and  participatory  theatre.  She  and  her  partner,  
Helen  Sandler,  organise  Aberration,  an  LGBT+  arts  night  in  Aberystwyth.  Helen  is  a  writer  and  editor  
who  also  runs  Tollington  Press.  The  presentation  expands  on  our  latest  theatre  project,  An  
Extraordinary  Female  Affection,  about  Eleanor  Butler  and  Sarah  Ponsonby  –the  Ladies  of  Llangollen.    

They  were  two  upper  -­‐class  Irish  women  who  eloped  in  1788  and  settled  in  North  Wales.  Travellers  
came  from  far  and  wide  to  gaze  at  the  two  women  And  their  picturesque  cottage  and  gardens.  We  
will  move  beyond  our  usual  show  to  explore  the  impact  Eleanor  and  Sarah’s  50  -­‐  year  relationship  
had  on  ‘women  loving  women’  of  the  time.    

Anne  Lister  of  Shibden  Hall  wrote  about  them  in  her  diaries;  others  sent  letters,  poems...  and  a  cow.  
But  the  Ladies  were  disturbed  by  correspondence  from  random  sapphists    and  newspaper    slander.  
We  will  use  extracts  from  our  show  and  other  sources  to  ask  how  they  survived  in  the  public  eye  
while  avoiding  disgrace.  From  Colette’s  musings  and  Elizabeth  Mavor’s  biography,  through  the  ‘sex  
wars’  of  the  80s,  the  Ladies  have  lived  on  as  a  symbol;  their  house  is  a  venue  for  same  sex  weddings.    

We  will  invite  delegates  to  explore  the    fantasies  and  friendships  –and  what  they  teach  us  about  
in/visibility  .    

Author’s  Name(s):  Dean  Inwood    

Institution/Affiliation:  PhD  researcher  in  Sociology  at  the  University  of  Surrey  

Title:  LGBTQ+  individuals’  lived  experiences  of  coming  out    

  18  
  
 
 
 
Abstract:  

This  research  project  is  inclusive  of  the  participant’s  voice,  keeping  LGBTQ+  experiences  at  the  
centre  of  the  research.  The  research  focusses  on  the  intersections  of  age,  class,  disability,  sexuality,  
mental  wellbeing,  and  rurality,  and  the  impact  of  these  on  participants’  experiences  of  coming  out.  
The  methods  consisted  of  six  semi-­‐structured  interviews,  where  an  inductive  approach  was  used  to  
ensure  the  data  collected  and  analysed  was  what  directed  the  project.  Through  thematic  analysis  of  
the  transcripts,  three  themes  were  produced:  coming-­‐out,  the  community  and  LGBTQ+  individuals’  
uses  of  technology.  For  this  paper,  the  participants’  experiences  of  coming-­‐out  provide  insight  into  
the  psychological  stress  and  familial  reactions  of  the  participants.  Five  out  of  six  participants  
experienced  psychological  stress  due  to  coming  out;  this  ranged  from  anxiety  about  familial/friend  
reactions  to  suicidal  thoughts.  The  participants’  views  of  whether  coming  out  had  a  positive  or  
negative  effect  on  them,  was  positive  overall.  The  participants  did  not  view  coming  out  as  part  of  the  
process  of  joining  the  LGBTQ+  community,  as  only  one  in  six  felt  part  of  the  LGBTQ+  community.  
Intersectionality  is  integral  in  understanding  participants’  experiences  of  coming  out.  Overall,  the  
psychological  stress  of  coming  out  was  examined  in  detail,  and  how  participants  felt  about  
themselves  pre  and  post  coming  out  were  highlighted.  There  is  a  need  for  further  intersectional  
LGBTQ+  research  that  is  focussed  on  the  participants’  experiences.  For  future  research,  I  am  
exploring  LGBTQ+  individuals’  uses  of  dating/hook  up  apps.  This  research  will  provide  further  
intersectional  analyses  and  keep  the  participant  at  its  core.  

Author’s  Name(s):  Janet  Jones    

Title:  A  Lesbian  Life:  Outing  the  70s  &  80’s    

Abstract:  

I  am  a  lesbian  in  my  50s  living  in  West  Yorkshire,  my  political  activism  since  my  teens  has  been  in  
defence  of  women’s  rights  and  LGBT  equalities.  

This  is  a    screening  of  a  collaborative  film  (31min)  by  myself  and  Amanda  Russell  who  was  a  manager  
of  London  bookshop  “Gay’s  the  Word”  in  the  1980’s.  In  interview  format  we  share  specific  details  of  
what  it  was  like  for  Amanda  who  is  a  lesbian  in  her  60s  coming  out  in  the  1970s,  the  discrimination  
and  events  which  led  to  a  raid  in  the  early  1980’s  by  HM  Customs  and  Excise  on  ‘Gay’s  the  Word’  
Bookshop,  and  also  the  searching  of  her  own  home.  Prior  to  the  recording  of  these  interviews,  full  
details  of  the  experience  and  the  impact  of  the  raid  remained  an  untold  story,  which  is  a  significant  
part  of  hidden  LGBT  history.  Amanda's  role  as  manager  of  the  bookshop  at  the  time  put  her  in  the  
position  of  potentially  appearing  at  the  Old  Bailey  on  charges  of  fraud  and  the  importation  of  
obscene  material.  The  case  was  dropped  just  prior  to  being  fought  but  not  before  she  was  
questioned  for  several  hours,  had  her  home  searched  and  was  harassed  by  customs  officers  for  
several  months.  Her  experience  was  also  a  key  part  of  the  introduction  of  Section  28  as  she  was  the  
person  who,  at  their  request,  deposited  the  title  'Jenny  lives  with  Eric  and  Martin'  into  the  school’s  
library  for  material  showing  positive  images  of  young  people  and  homosexuality.  The  visibility  of  her  
activism  in  setting  up  the  Lesbian  Discussion  Group  and  the  facilitation  of  other  meetings  at  the  
bookshop  was  entirely  omitted  from  the  2004  film  Pride.  The  reasons  for  this  are  unclear  but  raise  a  
question  about  lesbian  visibility,  which  elements  of  her  story  demonstrate.  

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Author’s  Name(s):  Mary  Leontsini  &  Persefoni  Kerentzi    

Institution/Affiliation:  National  and  Kapodistrian  University  of  Athens  

Title:  “(In)visible  homoerotic  practices  of  Greek  women:  (Im)possible  relationships  or  strategic  
practices”?    

Abstract:  

Due  to  the  accrued  importance  of  family,  marriage,  and  motherhood  within  contemporary  Greek  
society,  most  scholarly  works  on  lesbian  lives  focus  predominantly  on  invisibility,  unintelligibility,  and  
absence.  However,  Greek  homoerotic  women,  more  or  less  visible  within  their  families  of  origin  and  
their  workplaces,  do  engage  in  lesbian  relationships  and  live  with  their  female  partners.  Situated  in  a  
‘grey  zone’  of  visible  and  invisible  desires  within  the  social  worlds  of  the  family  and  work,  Greek  
lesbians  gauge  potential  reactions  within  their  families  and  their  workplaces  and  effectively  create  
boundaries  between  themselves  and  the  homophobic  world,  while  at  the  same  time  they  create  
new  arenas  of  recognition.  

Based  on  life  narratives  of  urban  Greek  women  in  their  early  thirties,  who  engage  in  lesbian  practices  
and  cohabit  with  their  partners,  this  paper  explores  the  meanings  of  visibility  and  invisibility  of  
lesbianism  through  these  women’s  discourses,  experiences,  and  perspectives.  More  specifically,  it  
examines  the  multiple  ways  in  which  homoerotic  Greek  women  perform  lesbianism,  reconstruct  
their  subjectivities  and  renegotiate  their  everyday  lives.  How  do  they  deal  with  family  (of  origin)  
expectations  and  what  meanings  do  they  make  out  of  their  “new”  (chosen)  families?  How  do  they  
negotiate  their  position  in  the  (usually  homophobic  and  heteronormative)  workplace?  

This  paper  challenges  the  predominant  victimising  notion  of  the  invisibility  of  lesbianism  and  
analyses  it  as  something  that  is  partly  hidden  from  view  and  intentionally  “encrypted”,  making  
difficult  to  interpret  and  decipher  its  multiple  meanings.  As  it  is  furthermore  suggested,  this  hidden  
and  (often)  invisible  practice  could  be  considered  as  a  deliberate  strategy  and  as  an  act  of  resilience,  
aimed  at  challenging  an  intrusive,  hegemonic  social  gaze  that  seeks  to  re-­‐inscribe  the  subject  
exclusively  within  the  confines  of  heteronormative  parameters  of  an  existing  system  of  
power/knowledge.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Jessica  Mancuso    

Institution/Affiliation:  PhD  candidate,  Sociology,  Manchester  

Title:  Lesbian  (In)Visibility  in  Manchester:  How  socio-­‐cultural  factors  influence  lesbian  visibility  in  
LGBTQ  spaces    
Abstract:  

This  paper  explores  the  idea  of  lesbian  visibility  in  LGBTQ  social  spaces  by  discussing  how  lesbians  in  
Manchester  experience  inclusion,  exclusion  and  a  sense  of  belonging  in  the  city’s  LGBTQ  social  
scene.    

Lesbians  are  often  labelled  “invisible”  due  to  the  small  presence  the  collective  has  on  the  scene.  

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Lesbian  invisibility  has  previously  been  explained  by  the  decline  of  lesbian  spaces  and  the  
dominating  presence  of  predominately  white,  cis,  young,  able  -­‐bodied  gay  men  in  commercial  
LGBTQ  areas.  

Since  the  scene  is  the  most  visible  space  for  LGBTQ  identities  (Formby,  2017),  gay  men  are  arguably  
the  most  recognised  identity.  This  visibility  provides  gay  men  collectives  with  a  lot  of  influence  that  
inevitably  marginalises  other  LGBTQ  members,  including  lesbians.  This  paper  provides  a  standpoint  
about  lesbian  visibility  from  the  viewpoint  of  lesbians  and  bisexual  women,  via  focus  groups  and  
interviews  with  research  participants  who  have  experiences  in  Manchester’s  commercial  and  non-­‐
commercial  LGBTQ  spaces.    

The  se  interviews  explore  the  participants’  perspective  of  Manchester’s  commercialised  gay  village  
and  the  last  lesbian  bar  in  the  village.    

Although  most  participants  are  happy  that  the  village  exists,  many  expressed  feelings  of  exclusion  
from  the  space  due  to  intersecting  socio-­‐cultural  factors,  such  as  gender,  race,  age,  and  sexuality.  
Due  to  these  experiences  many  participants  attend  and  create  non-­‐commercial  LGBTQ  spaces  that  
they  find  more  diverse,  inclusive,  and  women-­‐focused.  

This  demonstrates  how  lesbians  in  Manchester  navigate  commercial  and  non-­‐commercial  spaces  to  
make  their  identity  visible  and  seek  a  sense  of  belonging  in  women-­‐centred  spaces.  Furthermore,  
this  paper  illustrates  a  tension  between  lesbians’  reputation  and  feelings  of  being  invisible  and  their  
desire  to  be  visible  via  accessing  and  creating  lesbian-­‐focused  spaces.  This  tension  indicates  a  level  of  
complexity  in  the  politics  of  lesbian  (in)visibility  that  this  paper  tries  to  address.  

Author’s  Name(s):  Zoe  McCluskey    

Institution/Affiliation:  Amsterdam  University  

Title:  “I  kissed  a  Girl  and  I  liked  it”:  Navigating  through  Cis-­‐Gender  Female  Subjective  Experiences  
and  Pop-­‐Song  Representation  of  the  ‘Heteroflexible  Discourse’.    

Abstract:  

Proposal:  I  began  this  research  by  interviewing  12  cis-­‐gender  women,  between  the  ages  of  20-­‐29  on  
their  own  subjective  experiences  of  sexuality  in  contemporary  Britain.  From  listening  to  these  
interviews,  I  discovered  unexpected  prominent  narrative  which  ran  through  each  interview  in  some  
form.  This  was  that  each  female  regarded  their  sexuality  as  heterosexual;  yet  they,  on  some  level,  
had  experienced  a  sexual  experience  with  another  female.  As  well  as  the  interviews;  I  began  to  look  
outwards  at  mainstream  societal  representations  of  this  phenomena.  This  drew  me  to  look  at  pop-­‐
songs,  and  their  music  videos.  The  two  songs  I  chose  were  ‘I  Kissed  a  Girl’  by  Katy  Perry  (2008)  and  
‘Girls’  by  Rita  Ora  (2018).  A  subsequent  literature  review  convinced  me  there  had  been  no  previous  
research  on  regarding  ‘heteroflexibility’  as  a  discourse  or  investigating  the  phenomenon  from  the  
representations  of  contemporary  popular  music.  Furthermore,  the  form  of  sociological  post-­‐
structuralist  feminist  analysis  I  have  applied  was  scarce  within  existing  literature  on  the  subject.  The  
analysis  of  my  research  resulted  in  similar  outcomes  on  two  levels;  mainstream  cultural  
representation  and  subjective  experience.  This  ‘heteroflexible  discourse’  demonstrated  practically  
identical  privileged  ideologies  of  the  heteronormative  narrative,  which  reflected  this  ‘new  sexually  
liberated  female’.  This  form  of  liberation  I  suggest,  is  in  fact,  just  a  representation  of  the  shift  that  
society  deems  more  socially  acceptable  for  heterosexual  women.  Though  seen  as  a  form  of  
progressive  female  sexual  behaviour,  it  can  only  be  accessed  by  a  certain  privileged  individual,  

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creating  further  sexual  hierarchies  which  are  less  likely  to  be  so  ‘obvious’.  Coupled  with  this,  the  
cultural  representations  show  a  lack  of  diversity  when  it  comes  to  other  forms  lesbianism,  sexuality  
narratives  and  femininity.    

 
 
Author’s  Name(s):  Professor  Catherine  Meads    
 
Institution/Affiliation:  Professor  of  Health,  Faculty  of  Health,  Education,  Medicine  and  Social  Care,    
Anglia  Ruskin  University  
 
Title:  The  invisibility  of  lesbians,  bisexual  women  and  women  who  have  sex  with  women  in  health  
research    
 
Abstract:  
There  is  considerable  invisibility  in  research  on  the  health  of  sexual  minorities,  particularly  women.  
This  has  had  multiple  and  profound  impacts.  One  example  is  the  lack  of  information  on  the  sexual  
health  of  UK  sexual  minority  women.  For  many  years  the  Korner  Returns  from  UK  sexual  health  
clinics  recorded  heterosexual  men,  men  who  have  sex  with  men,  and  women.  There  was  no  
differentiation  into  women  who  have  sex  with  women  and  women  who  have  sex  with  men.  So  how  
the  statistics  were  collected  meant  that  there  was  no  information  available.  It  is  unclear  why  this  
was  set  up  in  this  way  but  gives  the  message  that  sexual  minority  women’s  sexual  health  is  not  
important,  or  same  as  heterosexual  women’s  health,  or  not  worth  collecting.  Public  Health  England  
have  only  just  realised  that  they  need  to  collect  sexual  health  information  for  women  by  sexual  
orientation.  Another  example  is  where  physical  health  condition  prevalence  has  not  been  
investigated  by  sexual  orientation.  A  recent  publication  by  Meads  and  colleagues  (2018)  showed  
that  there  are  higher  rates  of  asthma  but  not  cardiovascular  disease  in  sexual  minority  women.  Why  
this  is  so  is  very  unclear  but  warrants  further  investigation.  Also,  it  is  important  to  note  as  to  why  it  
has  taken  so  long  to  discover  this.  The  recent  action  by  the  US  government  to  cancel  recording  of  
sexual  orientation  in  government-­‐collected  statistics  means  that  important  health-­‐related  
information  about  prevalence  rates  and  other  useful  data  will  be  rendered  invisible  again.  This  
presentation  will  outline  a  number  of  areas  where  sexual  minority  women’s  health  has  been  
rendered  invisible  or  less  visible,  the  implications  for  sexual  minority  women  and  health  
professionals,  and  offer  some  suggestions  as  to  how  this  can  be  reversed.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Eleanor  Medhurst    

Institution/Affiliation:  University  Of  Brighton  Student  

Title:  Walking  Lesbian  Flags:  the  re-­‐appropriation  of  pink  within  queer  femininities    

Abstract:  

Pink  is  a  colour  heavy  with  associations  of  heterosexual  femininity.  It  has  been  seen  as  oppressive;  
campaigns  such  as  Pink  Stinks  have  warned  of  the  damage  it  does  to  women  and  girls,  while  
gendered  branding  has  exploited  pink  to  produce  stereotyped  gender  differences  for  the  capitalist  
market.  When  associated  with  homosexuality,  pink  has  settled  only  in  male  spaces,  with  divisions  
between  its  meanings  within  different  areas  of  the  LGBTQ  community.  

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 Recent  studies  such  as  the  Museum  at  FIT’s  2018  exhibition  Pink:  The  History  of  a  Punk,  Pretty,  
Powerful  Colour  have  brought  pink  into  the  limelight  as  a  colour  with  a  distinctive  voice.  However,  
the  role  of  pink  within  the  women-­‐loving-­‐women  community  is  one  which  is  thriving  and  subverting  
the  power  relations  of  femininity  in  the  brightest  sartorial  way.    

This  paper  aims  to  present  the  potential  of  pink  as  a  symbolic  means  for  lesbian  and  queer  women  
to  distort  a  patriarchal  devaluing  of  femininity.  It  will  explain,  from  a  fashion  history  perspective,  the  
visibility  politics  of  performative  acts  of  hyperfemininity.  Through  interviews  that  I  have  conducted  
with  a  selection  of  young  queer  women  who  proudly  dress  in  predominantly  pink  styles,  and  an  
analysis  of  the  outfits  that  they  wear,  I  will  explore  pink  as  a  political  symbol  of  queer  self  love,  
sapphic  love,  and  a  distinct  removal  from  the  oppressive  forces  of  masculinity.  This  argument  is  
developed  by  engagement  with  theoretical  works;  Luce  Irigaray’s  concept  of  mimicry  explains  how  
visible  tools  of  oppression  can  be  re-­‐appropriated  as  a  subversive  act,  while  an  application  of  the  
Foucauldian  analysis  of  “reverse  discourse,”  enables  a  new  understanding  of  how  wearing  pink  can  
help  re-­‐write  the  social  narrative  of  lesbian  dress  and  identity.  

This  is  a  topic  which  affects  anyone  who  has  been  shaped,  shunned,  or  silenced  by  stereotypical  
images  of  heterosexual  femininity.  

Author’s  Name(s):  Flavia  Meireles    

Institution/Affiliation:  full  Dance  Professor  at  CEFET/RJ  (Brazil)  and  Ph.D.  Candidate  in  
Communication  and  Culture  at  Federal  University  of  Rio  de  Janeiro  (Brazil  

Title:  Marielle  Franco  –  a  lesbian  in  politics  and  her  strategies    

Abstract:  

This  paper  examines  the  brief  but  remarkable  presence  of  leftist  politician  Marielle  Franco,  executed  
in  2018,  in  Brazilian  politics.  During  the  2017  municipal  elections,  her  candidacy  was  not  qualified  as  
lesbian,  but  as  a  black  woman  favelada  (poor  from  the  shanty  towns).    

During  her  term  –  brutally  interrupted  after  one  year  by  her  execution  in  circumstances  that  still  
have  no  solution  –  she  could  foster  to  put  the  “Lesbian  Visibility  Day”  for  the  municipal  vote.  Her  
proposal  was  defeated  in  the  municipality  and  this  day,  August  29th,  was  chosen  to  celebrate  the  
1st.  National  Seminar  of  Lesbian  (SENALE),  in  1996.  

Monica  Benício,  Franco’s  widow,  became  known  broadly  in  mass  media  journals.  Since  then,  Benício  
has  spoken  publicly  in  order  to  pressure  governmental  institutions  and  she  is  now  a  strong  figure  to  
support  leftist  political  struggles  in  Brazil  against  the  Conservative  turn.      

My  aim  is  to  examine  Franco’s  intersectional  agendas  of  class,  race,  gender,  and  sexuality  through  
her  institutionalized  political  struggles  during  her  term  as  a  minority  force  in  the  parliament.  With  
the  theoretical  support  of  Franco’s  intellectual  work  and  that  of  Angela  Davis,  Audre  Lorde  and  
Brazilian  black  lesbian  thinkers,  such  as  Fátima  Lima  and  Edmeire  Exaltação,  I  try  to  address  
Marielle’s  intersectional  agendas  with  her  life  as  a  politician  in  Rio  de  Janeiro.  It  is  worth  to  mention  
that  Lima  and  Exaltação’s  work  is  both  theoretical  and  practical  and  that  hey  organize  a  house  called  
Casa  das  Pretas  –  the  very  last  public  meeting  of  Franco.  Yet  standing  for  black  poor  women’s  very  
overtly,  her  lesbian  aspect  only  became  public  after  her  election.  Even  so,  she  was  able  to  gather  a  

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strong  lesbian  movement  that  almost  won  the  Lesbian  Visibility  Day  in  the  municipality.  This  context  
shows  how  ambiguous  (in)visibility  can  be,  especially  in  the  intersection  of  class,  race  and  gender  
discussions.  

Author’s  Name(s):  Ellie  Milne-­‐Brown    

Institution/Affiliation:  Third  Year  undergraduate  student  in  English  Language  and  Literature  
University  of  Oxford  

Title:  ‘...that  eventually  became  queer’:  queer  women’s  becomings-­‐with  queer  men  in  the  context  of  
HIV/AIDS    

Abstract:  

Queer  women’s  identity  formation  does  not  occur  in  a  vacuum.  This  paper  contends  that  queer  
women’s  identity  formation  has  been  vitally  informed  by  their  affiliations  with  queer  men.  These  
‘becomings-­‐with’  (in  Donna  Haraway’s  terms)  and  ‘against’  shape  how  queer  communities  interact.  
By  using  literary  and  archival  texts  alongside  my  own  experience  as  a  lesbian  trans  woman,  I  propose  
to  approach  identity  formation  in  a  way  which  prioritises  relationships  across  queer  identities.  

Drawing  upon  Donna  Haraway,  Eve  Kosofsky  Sedgwick,  and  Felix  Guattari  and  Gilles  Deleuze’s  
theories  of  identification,  I  locate  my  analysis  of  lesbian  identity  formation  within  the  HIV/AIDS  Crisis  
in  America.  This  period  saw  extraordinary  cooperation  between  queer  men  and  women,  and  created  
a  set  of  social  spaces,  such  as  those  within  ACT  UP  New  York,  in  which  queer  becomings-­‐with  
thrived.  In  order  to  discuss  the  specific  processes  of  queer  identity  formation  in  the  period,  I  
examine  literary  works  (including  Sarah  Schulman’s  Rat  Bohemia  and  Rebecca  Brown’s  The  Gifts  of  
the  Body)  alongside  archival  material  from  the  ACT  UP  Oral  History  Project.  In  doing  so,  I  contend  
that  the  specific  contexts  of  queer  activism  and  of  caring  for  dying  loved  ones  created  spaces  for  
becomings-­‐with  between  queer  men  and  women  in  this  period.  

Complementing  these  readings  will  be  an  autotheoretical  discussion  of  my  life  as  a  lesbian  trans  
woman  who  was  previously  in  a  homosexual  relationship  with  a  man.  My  process  of  becoming-­‐
with/against  my  former  self  will  be  used  to  inform  my  theoretical  approach  and  suggest  a  new  
model  of  queer  and  lesbian  identity  formation.  Although  the  AIDS  crisis  has  been  articulated  as  a  site  
of  gentrification  and  the  destruction  of  cross-­‐LGBTQ  spaces  and  relationships,  the  parallel  reading  of  
my  own  identity  alongside  texts  from  this  period  points  towards  an  alternative  future  of  queer  
cooperation.'    

Author’s  Name(s):  Dr  Julie  Mooney-­‐Somers    

Institution/Affiliation:  Senior  Lecturer,  Qualitative  Research  in  Health,  The  University  of  Sydney,  
Sydney  Health  Ethics,  Faculty  of  Medicine  and  Health,    University  of  Sydney  
 
Title:  Why  mass  media  anti-­‐smoking  campaigns  fail  to  engage  lesbian,  bisexual  and  queer  (LBQ)  
women  in  Australia    
 
Abstract:  

There  is  robust  international  data  showing  lesbian,  bisexual  and  queer  (LBQ)  women  smoke  at  higher  
rates  than  their  heterosexual  peers.  As  part  of  a  program  of  work  funded  by  Cancer  Institute  NSW  

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and  in  collaboration  with  a  community  health  promotion  organisation  (ACON  Health),  our  study  
sought  to  understand  the  significance  of  smoking  for  LBQ  women.  We  conducted  6  focus  groups  
with  28  LBQ  women  smokers  and  ex-­‐smokers  in  urban  and  regional  settings  in  Australia.  We  report  
here  on  perceptions  of  mass-­‐media  anti-­‐smoking  campaigns.    

Mainstream  messaging  failed  to  connect  with  participants  for  three  reasons.  First,  messaging  and  
imagery  were  simply  un-­‐relatable;  not  as  expected  because  LBQ  women  were  invisible  but  because  
participants  saw  old  men,  unhealthy  people,  no  one  ‘like  them’.  Women,  when  featured,  quit  
smoking  to  fulfil  family  responsibilities.  Second,  LBQ  women  talked  about  resisting  what  they  saw  as  
an  attempt  to  control  them  (often  through  scare  tactics;  they  didn’t  believe  government  messaging  
reflected  a  genuine  care  for  them  as  LBQ  women.  Finally,  women  reacted  negatively  to  the  shame,  
guilt  and  stigma  implicit  in  the  campaigns  they  could  recall.  We’ll  look  briefly  at  what  participants  
thought  would  resonate  for  women  like  them,  and  then  demonstrate  how  this  was  articulated  by  
the  Smoke  Free  Still  Fierce  smoking  cessation  community  campaign  developed  by  ACON  Health.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Dr  Julie  Mooney-­‐Somers    

Institution/Affiliation:  University  of  Sydney  

Title:  The  SWASH  survey  of  lesbian,  bisexual  and  queer  women’s  health:  How  community  shaped  
and  sustained  a  22  year  collaboration  in  Sydney,  Australia.    

Abstract:  

In  1996,  health  workers  at  the  AIDS  Council  of  New  South  Wales  (Australia),  concerned  about  a  lack  
of  evidence  about  HIV  risk  for  women  partners  of  gay  and  bisexual  men,  worked  with  researchers  to  
run  the  first  Sydney  Women  and  Sexual  Health  Survey  (SWASH).  SWASH  quickly  became  a  means  to  
capture  and  track  critical  health  indicators  (beyond  sexual  health)  of  community-­‐engaged  lesbian,  
bisexual,  queer  (LBQ)  and  other  non-­‐heterosexual  identifying  women  who  engage  with  LGBTQ  
communities  in  Sydney.  It  has  been  conducted  every  two  years  since  1996,  making  it  the  longest  
running  (perhaps  only)  periodic  survey  of  LBQ  women's  health  in  the  world.  In  the  absence  of  a  
‘mainstream’  evidence  base,  SWASH  has  driven  and  informed  action.    

SWASH  is  run  by  researchers  in  collaboration  with  a  community  health  promotion  organisation,  
where  members  of  LGBTQ  communities  work  in  and  for  LGBTQ  communities.  In  this  presentation  we  
will  tell  the  SWASH  story  from  our  perspective  as  researchers.  We  will  reflect  on  how  the  lived  
experience  of  LBQ  women  (and  more  recently  non-­‐binary  people)  in  the  community  has  shaped  and  
sustained  the  collaboration  and  profoundly  influenced  the  way  we  research.  The  community  has  a  
strong  sense  of  ownership  over  the  project;  we  will  talk  about  the  accountabilities  and  challenges  
this  produces  for  the  researchers  and  for  our  community  partner.  In  producing  scientific  evidence,  
SWASH  makes  LBQ  women  and  their  health  needs  visible  to  the  mainstream  (and  by  extension,  our  
findings  become  a  demand  for  action).  But  it  also  acts  to  tell  LBQ  women  about  their  health,  and  
construct  the  very  notion  of  common  health  interests.  

Author’s  Name(s):  Gail  Neill    

Institution/Affiliation:  Lecturer  Community  Youth  Work,  Ulster  University  

 
Title:  ‘And  so  I  was  reminded  that  I  was  not  normal’:  Young  women  with  disabilities  reflect  on  their  
experiences  growing  up  LGBTQ  in  Northern  Ireland.    

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Abstract:  

‘Reel  Life  Data’  was  a  competition  that  sought  to  bring  to  life,  through  film,  data  from  a  LGBTQ  
attitudinal  dataset.  The  aim  was  that  this  would  increase  data  accessibility  but  also  widen  its  reach  
beyond  academic  audiences.  This  paper  explores  how  one  group  of  LGBTQ  young  women  with  
learning  disabilities  engaged  with  this  project  and  the  impact  of  their  involvement.  The  paper  
highlights  the  topics  they  raised  (community,  education,  politics  and  future  aspirations)  but  also  
considers  the  use  of  film  production,  by  non-­‐filmmakers,  as  a  means  of  making  visible  their  
experiences.  It  considers  how  the  anonymity  of  being  behind  a  camera  enabled  these  young  women,  
who  previously  had  not  spoken  out  on  such  matters,  the  confidence  to  do  so.  The  paper  concludes  
by  screening  their  3-­‐minute  film  ‘Growing  up  gay  in  Northern  Ireland’.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Rachel  O’Connell    

Institution/Affiliation:  University  of  Sussex  

Title:  “Thigh  gaps  are  a  currency  where  I  come  from”:  Willam  Belli,  Commodification,  and  Queer  
Femininities    

Abstract:  

This  paper  considers  how  performance,  specifically  drag  performance,  represents  the  complexities  
of  the  embodied  self.  Returning  to  Judith  Butler’s  canonical  argument  that  drag  reveals  the  
performative  nature  of  gender,  this  paper  explores  the  output  of  the  controversial  YouTube  
performer  and  RuPaul’s  Drag  Race  alumnus,  Willam  Belli.  I  argue  that  Willam’s  work  constitutes  an  
embedded,  enmeshed,  and  complicit  commentary  on  the  commodification  of  femininity  and  the  
hypersexualisation  of  the  female  body  in  the  contemporary  “attention  economy”  of  social  media  
and  digital  self-­‐entrepreneurship.  The  title  quote  of  this  paper  is  Willam’s  tongue-­‐in-­‐cheek  protest  
against  the  body-­‐positivity  mantra  that  women  don’t  need  to  have  thigh  gaps.  Declaring  this  “hate  
speech,”  Willam  displays  his  allegiance  to  thigh-­‐gap  ideals  of  femininity  and  thus  to  celebrified  body  
culture  in  LA  (his  hometown)  and  online,  and  the  idea  of  the  “hot”  body  as  currency.  The  winner  of  
Drag  Race’s  wet  t-­‐shirt  competition  during  his  tenure  on  the  show,  Willam’s  performance  
consistently  focuses  on  “hotness,”  the  kind  of  “sex-­‐tape  femininity”  that,  commentators  have  noted,  
emerges  at  the  nexus  of  postfeminism,  entrepreneurial  neoliberalism,  and  digital  and  social  media.  
Consistently  posing  himself  as  “slut”  and  “whore,”  through  his  exaggerated,  dragged-­‐out  version  of  
this  form  of  femininity,  Willam  seems  to  reveal  how  digital  media’s  attention  economies  are  
currently  constructing  femininity,  and  in  particular,  constructing  femininity  as  commodity.  In  
Willam’s  work  this  lurid  nihilism  of  the  feminine  feeds  into  an  overall  aesthetic  of  humour  that  is  
racist,  transphobic,  ableist,  and  misogynistic,  such  that  we  certainly  cannot  read  Willam  as  a  queer  
theorist  or  political  heroine  of  drag.  And  yet  he  is  of  interest  as  an  ambivalently  located  cultural  
performer,  both  critical  and  compelled,  both  detached  and  embedded;  even  while  he  performs  a  
post-­‐mortem  on  the  postfeminist  body,  he  chooses  to  perform  and  embody  that  body  and  self-­‐
declaredly  identifies  with  it.  Displaying  an  abrasive  and  abject  body-­‐non-­‐specific  feminine  
performativity,  Wilam  seems  to  show  us  something  about  femme  subjectivities  beyond  the  cis-­‐
female  but  simultaneously  outside  of  the  transfeminine;  a  kind  of  self-­‐annihilating  femme  negativity  
that  reveals  a  new  side  of  queer  femininities.  

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Author’s  Name(s):  Kate  O’Riordan  &  Sharon  Webb    

Institution/Affiliation:  Head  of  School,  Media  Film  and  Music,  University  of  Sussex  
 
Title:  What’s  in  a  name:  queer  politics  on  campus    

Abstract:  

This  paper  draws  on  interviews  and  archival  work  examining  the  history  of  LGBTQ+  student  society  
at  the  University  of  Sussex.  It  reflects  upon  the  significance  of  the  name  changes  of  the  societies  on  
campus  over  time  and  considers  their  role  in  concerns  and  political  movements  in  wider  society.  It  
explores  the  experience  of  student  societies  in  relation  to  individual  and  group  identity.  It  looks  also  
at  how  the  Sussex  groups  were  positioned  as  political  through  activism,  and  beyond  LGBTQ+  issues  
and  the  university.  It  also  considers  the  relationship  between  life  on  campus  and  other  spaces  in  
Brighton  and  Hove  and  explores  how  town  and  gown  are  interwoven  in  the  political,  social  and  
cultural  experiences  of  queer  community  in  Brighton  and  Hove.  The  project  assembled  material  over  
a  timeline  from  1970  to  2017;  from  Gay.soc  to  the  LGBTQ+  society.  Three  key  themes  are  developed  
from  the  primary  materials:  

*  Identity  exploration  and  creation  

*  Queer  politics  and  beyond  

*  Town  and  gown  

This  research  is  based  on  material  gathered  by  two  student  researchers  who  worked  with  the  
University  of  Sussex  Student  Union.  They  identified  previous  society  members,  a  timeline  and  media  
coverage  of  the  Society.  They  carried  out  interviews  with  members,  past  and  present,  and  identified  
media  materials,  including  a  combination  of  materials  from  participants  and  broader  media  coverage  
in  local  and  national  media.  They  identified  a  number  of  key  events,  demonstrations,  issues,  
exhibitions  and  controversies  including:  actions  against  British  Home  Stores  (1976);  the  Campaign  
for  Homosexual  Equality  (1979);  protests  against  Section  28  (1988);  engagements  with  Pride;  
alliances  and  antagonisms  around  the  inclusion  of  L,  B,  T,  Q  and  +;  and  controversies  over  the  words  
dyke  and  faggot.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Enrica  Pianaro    

Institution/Affiliation:  Centre  d’Information  GAy  et  LEsbien  –  CIGALE  

Title:  The  L-­‐files:  Writing  lesbian  lives  from  scratch  

Abstract:  

This  paper  will  give  an  overview  on  the  difficulties  encountered  to  collect  and  to  write  lesbian  history  
in  Luxembourg.  Starting  point  is  the  publication  of  a  book  on  “Women  and  Gender”  which  led  to  the  
observation  that  there  is  almost  “zero”  material  on  lesbian  lives,  voices  and  bodies.  The  questions  
that  arose  were:  how  can  public  policies  integrate  lesbian  perspectives  if  lesbians  don’t’  exist  in  the  
Luxembourgish  social,  cultural  and  political  space?  How  can  lesbians  be  visible  (and  stand  for  their  
rights)  if  they  don’t  have  a  trace  of  their  past?  How  can  we  use  the  existent  to  create  a  lesbian  
genealogy?  In  order  to  find  answers  to  those  questions,  this  presentation  would  like  to  open  a  
discussion  and  enable  participants  to  share  similar  experiences  from  other  countries  or  cities.    

  27  
  
 
 
 
Author’s  Name(s):  Erin  J.  Rand    

Institution/Affiliation:  Associate  Professor,  Communication  &  Rhetorical  Studies,  Syracuse  

University  in  Syracuse,  New  York,  USA  

Title:  “Ravishing  Resistance:  The  Radical  Aesthetics  of  Queer  Feminine  Fashion”    

Abstract:  

Masculine  of  center  fashion  has  received  unprecedented  publicity  in  the  last  decade,  with  new  
fashion  bloggers  and  brands  featuring  menswear  styled  for  butch  women,  trans  men,  and  gender  
non-­‐conforming  folks.  The  allure  and  transgression  of  these  looks  are  undeniable,  but  when  that  
transgression  is  assumed  to  occur  through  cross-­‐gender  stylization—female-­‐assigned  bodies  donning  
masculine-­‐coded  clothing—the  potential  political  and  aesthetic  resistance  of  queer  feminine  fashion  
is  obscured.  This  paper  thus  engages  with  a  variety  of  feminine-­‐leaning  queer  styles,  described  and  
embodied  in  fashion  blogs  and  independent  brands,  in  order  to  investigate  the  way  they  navigate,  
on  one  hand,  the  hypervisibility  and  display  demanded  by  femininity  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  
invisibility  and  disregard  that  often  characterizes  feminine  style  in  queer  communities.  Specifically,  I  
consider  three  queer  feminine  fashion  blogs  (Defiant  Femme,  Fit  for  a  Femme  and  DapperQ’s  
“sibling  project,”  “Hi  Femme!”),  as  well  as  two  brands  that  cater  to  queer  feminine  people  of  all  
genders,  races,  dis/abilities,  and  body  types  (Cilium  and  Rebirth  Garments).  In  order  to  understand  
how  these  blogs  and  brands  embrace,  reinterpret,  and  refuse  patriarchal  and  heteronormative  
cultural  norms  of  appearance  and  style,  I  bring  together  scholarship  in  fashion  studies,  queer  
studies,  and  rhetorical  studies,  as  well  as  histories  of  clothing  as  a  means  of  expression  and  
resistance.  Ultimately,  I  suggest  that  queer  feminine  aesthetics,  working  in  the  interstices  of  
hypervisibility  and  invisibility,  engage  with,  rewrite,  and  sometimes  subvert  the  rules  of  fashion,  the  
expectations  of  gendered  and  sexual  categories,  the  meanings  associated  with  particular  sartorial  
signifiers,  and  the  value  accorded  to  particular  bodily  configurations.  

Author’s  Name(s):  Dr  Fiona  Rooney,  Tom  Vlietstra  &  Yalda  Tomlinson    

Institution/Affiliation:  NHS  Foundation  Trust  

Title:  (in)visible  sex:  LGBTQI  Identity,  meaningful  sex  and  Intellectual  Disability.    

Abstract:  

Inclusivity  movements  have  focused  on  improving  the  sex  lives  of  those  with  physical  disabilities.  
This  taboo  has  also  been  challenged  in  intellectual  disability  services  since  the  1980s,  however  the  
focus  of  this  is  often  in  the  areas  of  ‘safe  sex’,  ‘mental  capacity’  or  reducing  ‘challenging  sexual  
behaviour.’  People  with  intellectual  disabilities  who  are  members  of  the  LGBTQI  community  have  
been  largely  neglected  from  research  and  remain  a  hidden  and  marginalised  group  in  society.  There  
is  a  sad  history  of  the  discussion  of  sexuality  and  gender  identity  being  constructed  as  ‘perversion’  or  
ignored  within  the  field  of  intellectual  disability.  Positive  changes  are  taking  place,  however  more  
can  be  done  to  increase  service’s  confidence  in  providing  support.  This  talk  aims  to  explain  what  an  
intellectual  disability  is,  discuss  the  importance  of  discussing  ‘meaningful’  and  ‘pleasurable’  sex,  and  
explore  the  barriers  such  individuals  face  in  terms  of  expressing  their  identity,  accessing  appropriate  

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services  and  negotiating  this  within  their  lives.  Particular  focus  will  be  given  to  sharing  to  results  of  
research  based  on  interviews,  focusing  on  how  cis-­‐women  with  intellectual  disabilities  describe  and  
understand  their  LGB  identity,  where  they  felt  included  and  excluded  in  their  day-­‐to-­‐day  lives  and  if  
they  felt  supported  in  their  expression  of  same-­‐sex  attraction;  three  main  themes  were  identified:  
‘non-­‐heterosexual  identity  as  difficult’,  ‘the  impact  of  invisibility  and  difference’  and  ‘visibility  and  a  
positive  sense  of  self’.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Dr  Róisín  Ryan-­‐Flood    

Institution/Affiliation:  Senior  Lecturer,  Director,  Centre  for  Intimate  and  Sexual  Citizenship  (CISC)    
Department  of  Sociology,  University  of  Essex  
 
Title:  ‘Haven’t  you  literally  been  on  a  date  with  every  single  woman  in  London  yet?!’:  Lesbian  Online  
Dating    

Abstract:  

This  paper  will  explore  how  the  digital  realm  impacts  on  lesbian  personal  relationships  via  the  
experience  of  online  dating.  The  growing  popularity  of  online  dating  websites  and  apps  
demonstrates  that  this  is  an  increasingly  commonplace  activity  for  people  seeking  a  partner.  Yet  
little  is  known  about  how  online  dating  is  potentially  transforming  intimate  relationships.  In  
particular,  the  experiences  of  lesbian,  bisexual  and  queer  women  have  been  almost  completely  
unexplored.  This  study  provides  new  insights  into  technology,  gender  and  intimacy  through  in-­‐depth  
interviews  with  15  women  who  live  in  London  and  have  experience  of  online  dating.  It  is  argued  that  
online  dating  both  reinscribes  and  subverts  prevailing  gender  norms.  Topics  explored  include  gender  
and  ageing,  harassment  and  new  normativities  in  the  digital  era.  The  paper  explores  new  
understandings  of  the  role  of  digital  intimacies  in  contemporary  life,  as  well  as  the  changing  context  
for  gender  relations  and  sexual  citizenship.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Isabelle  Salem  Diego  Sentis    

Institution/Affiliation:  activist  

Title:  Let's  celebrate  the  riotts  of  Stonewall  by  documenting  the  history  of  our  (lesbian)  bars    

Abstract:  

We  archive  the  history  of  Geneva's  festive  and  militant  places  frequented  by  lesbians,  bies,  
heterosexual,  cis  and  trans  friends,  non-­‐binary  people  from  the  70s  to  the  present  day.  We  work  in  a  
collaborative  and  DIY  approach.  We  are  presenting  these  archives  now,  in  anticipation  of  Stonewall's  
50th  anniversary  commemorations,  which  will,  unfortunately,  continue  to  make  the  history  of  LBTs  
and  LBT  racialized  people  invisible.  

We  organize  an  intergenerational  mobilization  of  lesbian  and  bisexual,  cis  and  trans  people.  We  
want  them  to  realize  that  they  are  actresses  of  this  story.  It  is  crucial  that  they  could  appropriate  
these  stories  and  become  producers  of  knowledge  and  archives.  

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We  will  present  the  playful  participative  devices  set  up  to  learn  how  to  document  our  individual  and  
collective  histories  ourselves.  We  will  share  tested  strategies  to  encourage  a  collective  involvement  
of  everyone,  especially  for  the  less  aware  of  these  issues  and  the  most  vulnerable.  

We  are  in  the  process  of  enriching  and  strengthening  the  already  existing  archives,  such  as  those  of  
the  lesbian  association  Lestime  or  those  of  the  city,  thanks  to  the  collections  carried  out  within  the  
framework  of  the  project.  

We  chose  to  create  a  digital  cartography  to  mediate  these  archives  collected,  archives  created  and  
digitized  by  the  city,  television  and  other  institutional  archives,  or  archives  that  we  have  helped  to  
create.  We  will  share  our  questions  about  other  mediations  to  put  in  place  to  make  this  story  and  
these  archives  visible.  

Author’s  Name(s):  Isabelle  Salem  Diego  Sentis    

Institution/Affiliation:    

Title:  Speed  dating  with  our  archives    

Abstract:  

The  workshop  will  be  an  opportunity  to  allow  participants  to  meet  by  discovering  together  archives  
brought  by  participants,  lecturers,  members  of  the  University  ...  The  workshop  will  also  help  to  
question  the  archives  that  we  miss,  those  that  have  been  destroyed  or  that  are  not  communicated  
to  us.  

The  idea  is  to  create  a  playful  and  convivial  framework  of  shared  discovery  of  archives  in  the  form  of  
a  speed  dating:  we  use  the  codes  of  speed  dating,  a  timed  time,  a  protocol  of  questions  ...  

After  showing  up,  the  participants  will  discover  an  archive  hidden  in  an  envelope  and  an  envelope  
with  a  representation  of  the  mechanisms  of  invisibilisation  of  the  history  of  lesbians.  They  will  be  
invited  to  exchange  and  draw  comic  bubbles  and  to  write  inside  what  this  archive  evokes  to  them  in  
relation  to  their  personal  history  and  then  in  relation  to  the  history  of  our  community.  Then  they  will  
annotate  together  the  rubrics  of  an  archival  presentation.  Once,  the  time  dedicated  to  the  speed  
dating  elapsed,  the  participants  are  invited  to  gather  the    archives  and  notes  and  to  discover  what  
the  other  pairs  or  trinomials  have  discovered  and  expressed.  Thus  a  collection  of  archives  will  be  
collectively  constituted  ephemeral  in  connection  with  the  colloquium  and  a  digital  trace  will  be  
carried  out  later  (see  the  example  *  of  digital  trace  of  a  workshop  that  we  animated  in  a  Marseille  
Museum  MUCEM).  

We  want  to  allow  participants  to  become  aware  of  their  legitimacy  to  discover  archives,  to  
constitute  and  contribute  with  their  /  our  vocabularies.  We  want  to  share  a  sorority  moment.  

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Author’s  Name(s):  Elisabeth  T.  Sandler    

Institution/Affiliation:  Researcher,  Cambridge  University  

Title:  Female  same-­‐sex  parents’  visibility  in  connection  to  leave    

Abstract:  

This  paper  discusses  findings  from  my  MPhil  research  (University  of  Cambridge,  2017/18)  which  
explored  how  leave  affected  ten  female  same-­‐sex  parents’  experience  of  their  parental  identity.  
Semi-­‐structured  interviews  and  two-­‐week  diaries  (diary-­‐interview  method)  shed  light  on  parental  
identity  experiences  within  the  settings  of  shared  parental,  maternity,  and  adoption  leave,  as  well  as  
ineligibility  for  leave  in  the  UK.  Participants  identified  as  ‘female’,  ‘mothers’,  and  ‘same-­‐sex’  which  
includes  sexual  orientations  such  as  ‘lesbian’,  ‘gay  woman’,  ‘bisexual’,  and  ‘pansexual’.  Findings  
suggest  that  being  on  leave  increased  participants’  visibility  as  parents,  but  not  necessarily  as  same-­‐
sex  parents.  This  parental  (in)visibility  is  two-­‐layered:  (1)  to  oneself  and  (2)  to  others  such  as  their  
partner,  child,  health  practitioners,  or  strangers.  First,  in  providing  focus,  presence,  and  time,  leave  
allowed  participants  to  live  up  to  their  parental  identity  definition  through  engaging  in  tasks  they  
imagined  a  parent  to  do.  In  engaging  in  parental  tasks,  participants  became  visible  to  themselves  as  
parents.  Second,  being  on  leave  increased  participants’  interactions  with  others  in  their  parental  
role.  These  interactions  facilitated  parental  visibility  to  others  and,  in  being  viewed  and  treated  as  
parents  by  others,  increased  parental  visibility  to  themselves.  Interestingly,  this  visibility  layer  is  not  
dependent  on  confirmed  knowledge.  Parental  identities  were  often  assumed  by  strangers,  based  on  
the  assumption  that  a  female  with  a  child  is  this  child’s  mother.  This  assumption,  however,  is  
heteronormative  in  expecting  only  one  mother:  When  in  public  as  a  family,  in  contrast  to  being  out  
with  their  child(ren)  alone,  strangers  often  did  not  recognise  both  participants  as  the  child’s  
parent/mother.  The  act  of  outing  their  partner  and  family  constellation  was  then  necessary  in  order  
to  be  both  visible  within  their  parental  roles.  Due  to  heteronormativity,  being  on  leave  together  can  
then  lessen  parental  visibility.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Karin  Schönpflug    

Title:  Lesbian  identities  in  neoliberal  economics    

Affiliation/  institution:  IHS  -­‐  Institut  für  Höhere  Studien  -­‐  Institute  for  Advanced  Studies  

Abstract:  

The  first  part  of  this  paper  discusses  the  invisibility  of  lesbian  identities  in  economic  theory.  Starting  
from  the  inaugural  moment  when  Hobbes  and  Locke  legitimize  private  property  in  their  contract  
theories,  personal  identity  was  created  in  a  patriarchic,  (heteronormative),  colonial  and  capitalist  
process  that  needs  a  hierarchic  interaction  between  sexes,  races  and  classes.  Lesbian  existence  is  not  
an  issue  in  economic  theory  and  sexual  “deviance”  is  ruled  out  from  neoliberal  models  of  family  
economics.  The  second  part  of  this  paper  is  specifically  concerned  with  processes  of  lesbian  identity  
formation  against  the  backdrop  of  an  economic  system  and  culture  that  has  rendered  lesbians  
invisible  for  centuries,  but  now  offers  a  place  for  all  that  are  economically  and  personally  successful:  
Neoliberalism  demands  self-­‐optimizing  of  minds  and  bodies  in  private  and  public  spheres  as  well  as  
in  activist  settings:  In  a  dynamic  market  place  a  plethora  of  identities  are  available  and  ready  for  
personal  integration.  In  the  1980s  the  default  lines  between  the  “good”  and  the  “bad”  lesbians  were  

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sexual  activities,  in  the  2010s  lesbian  identities  are  played  against  each  other  and  the  competition  is  
once  again  fierce!    

Author’s  Name(s):  Victoria  Suvoroff    

Title:  (In)  Visibility  in  language  attributed  to  representations  of  female  masculinity  as  exemplified  by  
Soviet  history.  

Abstract:  

From  monarchs  to  arts  and  culture,  Russia  has  had  strong  links  with  Europe,  but  the  Revolution  of  
1917  followed  by  the  creation  of  the  USSR  changed  the  dynamics  by  closing  the  iron  curtain  
between  the  two  worlds.  Censorship  and  isolation  from  the  West  have  created  a  culture  that  is  not  
exposed  to  ideas  of  sexual  and  gender  diversities  but  how  different  are  the  histories  of  lesbian  lives  
in  Russia  and  the  UK  during  the  past  century?  For  example,  decriminalisation  of  homosexuality  after  
perestroika  in  1993  ,  federal  law  introduced  in  2013  criminalising  the  distribution  of  materials  in  
support  of  LGBT  community  amongst  minors  is  reminiscent  to  Section  28  from  the  past  that  
prevented  “homosexual  propaganda”  in  the  UK.  

The  proposed  visual  presentation  concentrates  on  images  of  female  masculinity  throughout  Soviet  
history  and  aims  to  avoid  misinterpretations  of  the  identities  behind  these  images.  The  problematics  
of  identity  labels  are  subject  to  a  current  debate  in  the  UK.  This  can  be  seen  on  fliers  and  badges  
distributed  by  Brighton  and  Hove  city  council  (Fig.  5)  on  the  use  of  pronouns.  This  flux  state  of  
language  in  relation  to  gender  is  also  exemplified  by  the  rainbow  plaque  dedicated  to  Anne  Lister  
(1791-­‐1840)  referred  at  first  to  Lister  as  “Gender-­‐nonconforming  entrepreneur”  (Fig.  6).  Controversy  
surrounds  the  terminology  used  on  the  plaque  creates  a  space  for  the  critique  of  contemporary  
terminology  in  defining  historic  figures.  In  presentation  the  correct  terminology  in  relation  to  
representations  of  female  masculinity  in  Soviet  history  from  1917  through  Soviet  era  to  Perestroika  
is  established  and  follows  the  tendencies  of  the  language  in  representing  female  masculinity.  

While  approaching  representations  of  female  masculinity  in  a  format  of  an  archive  creates  a  form  of  
visual  affirmation  of  the  diversity  in  gender  representations  in  history,  what  is  the  role  of  the  
language  attached  to  them  and  what  form  of  (In)Visibility  it  has  a  potential  to  create?    

Author’s  Name(s):  Tena  Thau    

Institution/Affiliation:  DPhil  Candidate  in  Philosophy,  Uehiro  Centre  for  Practical  Ethics,    University  
of  Oxford  
 
Title:  “Love  Drugs”  and  Queer  Visibility    

Abstract:  

A  growing  philosophical  literature  is  exploring  the  ethics  of  “love  drugs”  –  biotechnology  that  might,  
in  the  future,  influence  who  we  are  romantically  attracted  to.  In  a  recent  paper,  Earp,  Sandberg,  &  
Savulescu  (2014)  consider  whether  it  would  be  morally  permissible  for  a  gay  person  to  take  drugs  
that  would  make  them  straight  (were  such  drugs  developed  in  the  future),  in  order  to  escape  severe  

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discrimination.  In  this  paper,  I  ask  the  opposite  question:  would  it  be  morally  permissible  for  a  
straight  person  to  take  drugs  that  would  make  them  gay,  or  pan?  

There  seems  to  be  something  morally  troubling  about  unnaturally  changing  one’s  sexual  orientation,  
in  cases  where  one  would  go  from  a  privileged  orientation  to  a  marginalized  one.  I  explore  both  
consequentialist  and  non-­‐consequentialist  versions  of  this  worry.  The  consequentialist  version  of  the  
objection  would  contend  that  changing  one’s  orientation  to  queer  could  result  in  harm  to  the  queer  
community.  The  non-­‐consequentialist  version  of  the  objection  contends  that  changing  one’s  
orientation  from  straight  to  queer  is  morally  wrong,  apart  from  any  negative  consequences  it  might  
have  for  queer  folks.  

After  considering  the  objections  to  straight-­‐to-­‐queer  love  drugs,  I  consider  whether  a  positive  case  
could  be  made  in  favour  of  their  use.  In  particular,  I  explore  how  the  use  of  such  drugs  would  
introduce  a  novel  kind  of  “queer  visibility”  –  one  that  would  enable  previously  straight  people  to  see  
what  it  is  like  to  be  queer  through  their  own  eyes.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Jane  Traies,  Pip  Scott,  Marguerite  Saffery,  Barbara  Young    

Title:  ‘How  many  old  lesbians  does  it  take  to  write  a  history  book?’    

Abstract:  

This  collaborative  panel  presentation  addresses  the  politics  of  (in)visibility  as  it  applies  to  older  
lesbians,  by  putting  four  women  in  their  seventies  and  eighties  centre  stage.  The  panellists  are  all  
contributors  to  Now  You  See  Me  (ed.  Jane  Traies,  2018),  a  collection  of  life  stories  told  by  lesbians  
born  before  1950.  Rather  than  three  discrete  academic  papers,  it  features  readings,  personal  
reflections  and  discussion.  The  participants  will  read  from  their  own  stories,  as  well  as  describing  the  
process  of  co-­‐producing  the  book  and  reflecting  on  what  this  experience  of  ‘becoming  visible’  has  
been  like  for  them.  

Moderator,  Jane  Traies.    

Speakers:  Marguerite  Saffery,  Barbara  Young,  Kate  Foley  

Speaker  biographies:  

Marguerite  Saffery:  Born  in  1946,  during  a  heatwave  followed  by  one  of  the  worst  winters  on  
record,  a  life  from  the  start  full  of  juxtapositions.    Educated  by  Anglican  nuns,  expelled  twice,  hung  
on  until  I  was  18.    Studied  theology.    Wanted  to  be  a  priest:  no  chance.    Spent  37  years  teaching  
English,  opening  a  world  for  people  to  be  the  best  they  could  be  in  a  universe  of  glittering  choices.    
Married,  because  you  do;  two  girls;  divorced.    Joined  a  consciousness  raising  group,  and  my  life  
became  even  more  complicated;  born  again.    Had  first  relationship  with  a  woman,  met  my  now  wife,  
a  home  for  ever.    Retired,  able  to  take  part  in  social  action,  helped  to  start  and  run  a  foodbank.    
Became  a  grandmother.  Always  aimed  to  change  the  world  –  failed  in  the  big  attempt,  maybe  some  
success  in  the  smaller  efforts.  

Barbara  Young:  I  am  70  years  old.  I  totally  changed  my  life  at  the  age  of  40,  when  I  realised  that  I  
had  to  look  at  who  I  am  before  it  was  too  late.    I  now  view  myself  as  lesbian.  I  have  two  adult  

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children  who  are  very  open  about  my  identity,  and  my  ex-­‐husband  of  25  years  gave  permission  for  
his  photo  to  appear  in  this  book.    I  am  in  a  civil  partnership  and  will  this  year  celebrate  this  
relationship’s  25  years.  I  retired  8  years  ago  from  a  career  in  social  work.    I  now  enjoy  being  creative  
with  wood.  

Kate  Foley:  My  working  life  ranged  from  delivering  babies  to  conserving  delicate  archaeological  
material.    My  last  job  was  as  Head  of  English  Heritage’s  scientific  and  technical  research  laboratories.  

Although  I  have  always  written  poetry,  it  wasn’t  until  I  gave  up  the  day  job  that  I  began  to  publish.    

I  now  live,  with  my  Dutch  wife,  between  Amsterdam  and  Suffolk,  where  I  perform,  write,  edit,  lead  
workshops  and  work  with  artists  in  other  disciplines.  Electric  Psalms:  New  and  Selected  Poems  was  
published  by  Shoestring  Press  in  2016  and  A  Gift  of  Rivers,  my  10th  collection,  by  Arachne  Press  in  
2018.  

Jane  Traies:  I  am  an  independent  scholar,  writer  and  researcher  loosely  attached  to  Sussex  
University.  I  have  been  recording  the  experiences  of  the  oldest  generations  of  lesbians  in  the  UK  for  
about  ten  years.  Some  of  these  stories  featured  in  my  first  book,  The  Lives  of  Older  Lesbians:  
Sexuality,  Identity  and  the  Life  Course  (Palgrave  Macmillan,  2016).  I  continue  to  record  the  life-­‐
narratives  of  women  born  before  1950  who  identify  as  lesbian  or  bisexual;  my  second  book,  Now  
You  See  Me  (Tollington  Press,  2018),  is  a  collection  of  some  of  these  stories.      

Author’s  Name(s):  Siyang  Wei    

Title:  The  Visibility  of  Identity:  Lesbian  Encounters  with  ‘Compulsory  Sexuality’    

Abstract:  

In  the  growing  field  of  asexuality  studies,  the  notion  of  ‘compulsory  sexuality’  has  increasingly  been  
called  forth  to  explain  the  apparent  invisibility  of  asexuality  in  contemporary  Western  society.  In  a  
2015  conceptual  overview,  Kristina  Gupta  argues  that  the  “privileging  of  sexuality  and  the  
marginalisation  of  nonsexuality”  (147)  makes  sexuality  –  analogous  to  but  independent  of  
heterosexuality  –  a  system  of  compulsory  regulation.  Evidence  is  found  in  such  places  as  archaic  
marriage  consummation  laws,  the  ‘male  sexual  drive  discourse’,  and  sexualisation  as  “the  increasing  
visibility  of  and  importance  afforded  to  sex  and  sexuality  in  the  public  and  private  spheres”  (139)  –  
underpinned  by  the  “assumption  of  universal  sexual  interest”  (141).  As  such,  she  writes:  “Our  
society’s  definition  of  the  human  and  the  normal  is  tied  to  the  sexual,  but  not  necessarily  any  longer  
to  the  heterosexual.”  (142)  

However,  I  argue  that  proponents  of  compulsory  sexuality  as  an  explanatory  concept  have  failed  to  
critically  interrogate  the  ‘visibility’  the  asexual  identity  category  as  an  emancipatory  goal,  nor  have  
they  sufficiently  explored  dimensions  of  visibility  beyond  cultural  representation.  As  a  result,  this  
work  simplifies  the  troubled  relationship  between  (a)sexuality,  agency,  and  gender  in  context  of  the  
growing  commodification  of  the  erotic.  It  also  functions  to  invisibilise  the  subjective  articulation  of  
qualitatively  different  asexualities  in  relation  to  the  continued  heteropatriarchal  structuration  of  sex.  

My  paper  seeks  to  address  this  gap  by  paying  specific  attention  to  the  intersection  of  lesbian  and  
asexual  experiences.  Building  on  three  in-­‐depth  interviews  with  women  who  identify  with  both  

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‘queerness’  and  asexuality,  I  demonstrate  the  ways  in  which  dominant  narratives  of  asexuality  –  as  
invisibilised  by  ‘compulsory  sexuality’  –  mask  the  more  fraught  role  of  sexual  desire  in  lesbian  and  
otherwise  ‘queer’  womanhoods.  Accordingly,  I  argue  that  any  emancipatory  theory  of  asexuality  
must  not  marginalise  the  analytic  framework  of  compulsory  heterosexuality.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Jinfang  Yang    

Institution/Affiliation:  PhD  student  of  Social  Psychology  of  the  Autonomous  University  of  Barcelona  

Title:  The  constructed  and  legitimized  heteronormativity  in  academy:  “Invisibility”  of  the  female-­‐
homosexual  population  &  “Invisibility”  of  the  heterosexual  population  in  the  Psychology  of  Spain,  
Portugal,  Latin  America  and  China    

Abstract:  

Many  social  psychologists  we  affirm  that  we  investigate  male  homosexuality  and  lesbianism  fighting  
for  social  equality.  But  in  fact,  precisely  our  investigations  are  constructing  and  legitimating  the  
heteronormativity.  The  objective  of  the  present  work  is  to  identify  the  academic  construction  of  
heteronormativity  of  the  Psychology  of  Spain,  Portugal,  Latin  America  and  China.1  

Through  a  review  of  the  published  articles  of  the  Psychology  of  the  mentioned  countries  and  areas  
on  male  homosexuality  and  lesbianism  during  2012-­‐2016,  there’s  a  striking  difference  between  the  
number  of  the  articles  about  general/male  homosexual  population  and  the  number  of  the  articles  
about  the  female-­‐homosexual  population.  In  the  80th  of  the  last  century,  Kitzinger  (1987)  has  
indicated  the  invisibility  of  the  female-­‐homosexual  population,  Stein  (2007)  also  states  that  until  
now  researchers  still  only  occasionally  study  lesbians,  this  “invisibility”  still  reminds  us  that,  like  
always,  the  academia  is  somehow  ignoring  the  female  non-­‐heterosexual  population.  In  conditions  of  
the  normative  heterosexuality,  occasionally  monitoring  gender  is  a  way  of  affirming  the  
heterosexuality  (Butler  2007),  moreover,  scientific  discourses  legitimize  and/or  illegitimize  
individuals’  behaviours  in  a  specific  society  (Jualiano,  2017),  then  the  simple  fact  that  researchers  
study  male  homosexuality  and  lesbianism  without  questioning  heterosexuality  has  already  
legitimized  and  naturalized  heterosexuality  as  the  normative  sexuality.  

The  research  reveals  that  the  actual  Psychology  is  still  working  under  the  heterosexual  logic,  and  
both  “invisibilities”  imply  that  the  academia  has  constructed  and  legitimized  the  heteronormativity  
of  our  society  and  is  still  doing  it.  This  work  seeks  to  rethink  the  heterocentric  logic,  the  constitutive  
power  of  scientific  discourses  and  the  ethical  and  political  effects  of  our  investigations.    

Author’s  Name(s):  Dr  Laine  Zisman  Newman    

Institution/Affiliation:  Centre  for  Sexual  Diversity,  Studies  at  the  University  of  Toronto.  

Title:  Troubling  ‘inclusive’  spaces  in  queer  women’s  communities  

Abstract:  

On  November  20,  2018,  Glad  Day  Books  and  XTRA  Magazine  hosted  a  workshop  in  Toronto,  Canada,  
focused  on  a  lack  of  space  for  queer  women  in  the  city.  Though  free,  the  event  required  
reservations,  which  quickly  sold  out  online.  Queer,  lesbian,  bi,  and  trans  women  were  eager  to  be  

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part  of  an  intersectional  discussion  on  the  very  tangible  spatial  inequities  they  had  experienced  in  
their  daily  lives.  

While  the  event  provided  an  essential  space  for  discussion,  it  was  scheduled  on  the  same  day,  at  the  
same  time  as  the  Trans  Day  of  Remembrance  Ceremony,  just  a  few  blocks  away.  When  confronted  
about  this  scheduling  conflict  multiple  times  on  their  Facebook  page,  the  organizers  responded  to  
every  critique  and  question  with  the  same  word-­‐for-­‐word  reply.  Ultimately,  they  did  not  change  the  
date  or  time  of  the  event.  As  one  person  asserted  on  the  Facebook  page,  simply  acknowledging  the  
error  and  continuing  with  the  event  is  insufficient:  “Queer  cis  women  (myself  included)  need  to  
transparently  acknowledge  the  transphobic  history  of  many  lesbian/queer  spaces/institutions  in  
Toronto  and  work  to  address  and  rectify  this  problem-­‐-­‐acknowledging  this  error  and  rescheduling  
this  event–and  signal  boosting  the  519  event!–should  be  a  start.”  

Though  adamant  about  their  inclusive  approach,  XTRA’s  refusal  to  shift  the  date  and  time  of  the  
event  demonstrates  a  lack  of  care,  concern,  and  inclusion  for  those  who  are  most  marginalized  and  
invisible  within  our  communities.  The  concurrent  events  are  an  indication  of  how  marginalized  
groups  within  queer  communities  are  expected  to  thrive  with  not  only  less  space,  but  also  split  time.  
Indeed,  XTRA  noted  in  their  posts  that  attendees  could  move  between  the  events,  slipping  in  and  
out  of  the  spaces  as  they  see  fit.  The  assumption  that  marginalized  bodies  should  move  through  
space  more  quickly  is  one  way  in  which  privilege  (and  oppression)  manifests.  Privileged  bodies  are  
not  only  permitted  to  take  up  space,  but  to  take  it  up  for  longer  periods  of  time.  

Thinking  through  the  spatial  and  temporal  dynamics  at  play  in  this  incident,  alongside  other  recent  
acts  of  exclusion  in  queerwomen’s  spaces,  in  this  paper  I  consider  the  consequences  of  cis-­‐centred  
white  lesbian  activism  and  simplistic  empty  assertions  of  inclusivity.  Through  discussions  of  allyship  
and  trans  invisibility,  ultimately,  this  paper  explores  how  the  expectations  of  space  and  time  use  
impact  not  only  who  is  present  to  speak  in  the  room,  but  also  who  is  spoken  for  and  spoken  about.    

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