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Queering the Midwest: Forging LGBTQ Community
River City is a small, Midwestern, postindustrial city surrounded by green hills and farmland with a population of just over 50,000. Most River City residents are white, working-class Catholics, a demographic associated with conservative sexual politics. Yet LGBTQ residents of River City describe it as a progressive, welcoming, and safe space, with active LGBTQ youth groups and regular drag shows that test the capacity of bars.
In this compelling examination of LGBTQ communities in seemingly “unfriendly” places, Queering the Midwest highlights the ambivalence of LGBTQ lives in the rural Midwest, where LGBTQ organizations and events occur occasionally but are generally not grounded in long-standing LGBTQ institutions. Drawing on in-depth interviews and ethnographic observation, Clare Forstie offers the story of a community that does not fit neatly into a narrative of progress or decline. Rather, this book reveals the contradictions of River City’s LGBTQ community, where people feel both safe and unnoticed, have a sense of belonging and persistent marginalization, and have friendships that do and don’t matter. These “ambivalent communities” in small Midwestern cities challenge the ways we think about LGBTQ communities and relationships and push us to embrace the contradictions, failures, and possibilities of LGBTQ communities across the American Midwest.
In this compelling examination of LGBTQ communities in seemingly “unfriendly” places, Queering the Midwest highlights the ambivalence of LGBTQ lives in the rural Midwest, where LGBTQ organizations and events occur occasionally but are generally not grounded in long-standing LGBTQ institutions. Drawing on in-depth interviews and ethnographic observation, Clare Forstie offers the story of a community that does not fit neatly into a narrative of progress or decline. Rather, this book reveals the contradictions of River City’s LGBTQ community, where people feel both safe and unnoticed, have a sense of belonging and persistent marginalization, and have friendships that do and don’t matter. These “ambivalent communities” in small Midwestern cities challenge the ways we think about LGBTQ communities and relationships and push us to embrace the contradictions, failures, and possibilities of LGBTQ communities across the American Midwest.
- GenresLGBT
232 pages, Paperback
Published October 25, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 20, 2025
The pseudonymous "River City," probably in Illinois, is the setting for this sociological study of LGBTQ life in a small city. It is based on the author's PhD dissertation in which she lived in the town and interviewed 54 people: 15 allies, 14 gay men, 10 lesbians, 8 queers, 6 bisexuals, and 1 asexual. Her theme throughout is the "ambivalent" nature of the LGBTQ community and of the relationships of people therein. There were definitely some insights I can apply in my own research.
September 30, 2024
Great overview of how queer community is formed, and I think the author did a great job of examining their findings.
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February 27, 2025Ok sure!
April 30, 2025
so was this a music man reference?
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews