Queer nationalism is a phenomenon related both to the gay and lesbian liberation movement and

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

. Adherents of this movement support the notion that the

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

community forms a distinct people due to their unique culture and customs.

Queer Nation

The homophobic aspect of many cultures has led to increasing frustration and a wish to separate from a perceived hostile heterosexual majority. These feelings found their expression in 1990 with the establishment of Queer Nation, a radical organization best known for its slogan "We're here. We're queer. Get used to it". In 1969, gay activist Don Jackson from California proposed to take over

Alpine County, California Alpine County is a county in the eastern part of the U.S. state of California located within the Sierra Nevada on the state border with Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,204, making it California's least populous county. T ...

—a project also known as Stonewall Nation. The first attempt to make territorial claims was made in 2004 by a group of Australian gay activists who declared the tiny islands of Cato Reef to be the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands and Dale Parker Anderson to be the Emperor. Following the 2005 disagreements within the group, the Gay and Lesbian Commonwealth Kingdom and Unified Gay Tribe have cancelled their affiliation to Anderson. Some other groups with similar causes exist, e.g. the Gay Homeland Foundation and a

micronation A micronation is a polity, political entity whose representatives claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by any sovereign state. Micronations are classified separately from list o ...

called Gay Parallel Republic. In 2007, Garrett Graham published a plan and constitution for a gay state, connected to Theodor Herzl's Jewish state ("Herzl's words, messages and concepts live on in ... The Gay State").

The Pink Panthers Movement

The gay rights activist group the Pink Panthers Movement (PPM) in Denver, Colorado, as well as their charters/chapters throughout the United States, including a large group located in Fresno, California, have identified themselves not only as radical and militant but also as queer nationalists. These formed several small parties throughout the United States and Canada that stand in solidarity only to those that identify as supporters of the old Queer Nation.

Research on queer nationalism

An advanced analysis was published 1996 by Brian Walker. In his article "Social Movements as Nationalisms, or, On the Very Idea of a Queer Nation", Walker points out that several features of the nationalistic creation of cultural identity apply to the LGBT national movement as well. Walker classifies queer nationalism as one of the new cultural forms of nationalism which are distinct from the old ethnic and religious types of nationalism and concludes that the gay and lesbian community fulfils many criteria to be regarded as a people for the following reasons: * All forms of nationalism began as social movements, which queer nationalism is—a group of people set apart from those around them by in-group attitudes and discrimination from others. * The gay community has a

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

, with distinct discussion groups, book stores, magazines, bars, cabarets and other such features. * It possesses a shared

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

. Walker regards modern communication technologies such as the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

as offering a chance for the LGBT community to further integrate as a non-territorial nation. This thesis is supported by Paul Treanor, who considers an alternative (non-nationalist) world order possible. In this context, Treanor mentions the LGBT community as a "non-territorial nationalist movement". Will Kymlicka acknowledges that LGBT people have developed a group identity and group culture similar to those of ethnocultural groups, but he argues in favor of integration instead of separatism.Will Kymlicka: ''Can Multiculturalism Be Extended to Non-Ethnic Groups?'' in ''Finding our way: rethinking ethnocultural relations in Canada'' (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1998), S. 90–101.

References

External links

Rethinking Nationalism
()

Gay Homeland Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Queer Nationalism LGBTQ rights Independence movements Nationalism and gender Queer culture Far-left politics

Queer Nation

The Pink Panthers Movement

Research on queer nationalism

See also

References

Further reading

External links