Queer Spaces: An Atlas of LGBTQ+ Places and Stories

by Adam Nathaniel Furman (Editor), Joshua Mardell (Editor)

An independent bookshop in Glasgow. An ice cream parlour in Havana, where strawberry is the queerest choice. A cathedral in ruins in Managua, occupied by the underground LGBTQIA+ community. Queer people have always found ways to exist and be together, and there will always be a need for queer spaces. In this lavishly illustrated volume, Adam Nathaniel Furman and Joshua Mardell have gathered together a community of contributors to share stories of spaces that range from the educational to the institutional to the re-appropriated, and many more besides. With historic, contemporary and speculative examples from around the world, Queer Spaces recognises LGBTQIA+ life past and present as strong, vibrant, vigorous, and worthy of its own place in history. Looking forward, it suggests visions of what form these spaces may take in the future to continue uplifting queer lives. Featured spaces include:

Black Lesbian and Gay Centre, London Category Is Books, Glasgow Christopher Street, New York Coppelia, Havana New Sazae, Tokyo ONE Institute for Homophile Studies, Los Angeles Pop-Up spaces, Dhaka Queer House Party, Online Santiago Apóstol Cathedral, Managua Trans Memory Archive, Buenos Aires Victorian Pride Centre, Melbourne

Genres: Queer, Nonfiction, LGBT, Urbanism, Gay, Architecture

240 pages, Hardcover

Published May 1, 2022

Reviews

[Pippa Catterall · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the launch last week I suggested that we already need a volume 2 of this amazing compendium of queer spaces. It’s not comprehensive, but could it ever be? Yet the editors have done a great job in finding sites and contributors from around the world. This collection introduces the reader to 94 queer spaces - indoor, outdoor, historic, contemporary and even virtual - accompanied by, whenever possible, some stunning images. Certain types of spaces predominate. As might be expected, clubs and bars are prominent. Yet that is entirely appropriate. As the entry on Sappho Islands in Kampala observes, queer nightclubs are for many the only spaces where ‘they have the freedom to act as they wish with their own bodies’. There might be some debate about whether all the spaces can be coded as queer, particularly some of the domestic space included. Nonetheless, this is a wonderful resource, great for dipping into to savour the heterogeneity of queer spaces, as well as for the common threads and themes that emerge from these case studies. Sadly, the common theme I spotted most was that of spaces suppressed by authorities. Sappho Islands is one of those. Yet we are told that its founder plans to reopen it whenever possible. In showing the indomitable spirit of queer communities in face of the incomprehension or hostility of cis- and heteronormative society there is a joy and a resistance.

[Tobias · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gud va besviken jag blev, kan vi få läsbara sidor 😩😩😩 väldigt ostrukturerat kändes det också

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book - I highly recommend

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a defacto companion book to the queer compendium I read. This book is a photographic collection of various private and public spaces that have been claimed by queer people over the years.