Us and the Others: Belonging, Exclusion, and Other Complexities to Defining an LGBTIQ+ Community
Abstract
Although it has become natural in academic literature to refer to sexual and gender diversity as a “community”, it is rarely questioned what the usage of this term entails. The search for an “ideal community” might obscure the richness of this human phenomenon for the sake of an apparent unity; at the same time, an atomized gaze that denies its communal traits would not be useful either. My aim is to address the nuances associated with the concept of community and its relation to the evolution of sex and gender diversity. Finally, we contend that the ethical way of approaching them requires recognizing their capacity for articulation and the existence of a symbolic territory of resistance, without denying their ruptures, tensions, and contradictions. We propose that researchers approach this and other oppressed communities from a reflexive position, respecting the complexity of their history, intersections, multiplicity, and social potential.
Keywords
Community, Dissidence, Exclusion, Sexual Diversity, Social MovementsReferences
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