Queerburbia: LGBTQ2S placemaking in Canadian suburbs (Julie Podmore, John Abbott College (with Alison L. Bain))
Abstract:聽Queerburbia is a neologism coined as a counterargument to queer metronormativities. By bringing the queer and suburban into focus, it redirects attention to the less visible LGBTQ2S lives lived across the peripheries of metropolitan areas. Conceptually, it seeks to alter North American suburbia鈥檚 iconic reputation for heterocisnormative erasure and enrich the suburban studies 鈥渄iversity paradigm鈥� by integrating peripheral queer placemaking practices. This paper explores the queerburbia concept through an overview of a seven-year study of LGBTQ2S placemaking in selected suburban municipalities on the peripheries of Canada鈥檚 largest cities. Using placemaking as an analytical framework, it considers how media and statistical representations, municipal and para-public inclusion practices, and LGBTQ2S activism serve to make, unmake and remake Canadian suburbs as queer.
