Queer cosmopolitanism in the disaster zone: ‘My Grindr became the United Nations’

Abstract

This article reflects on the significance of cosmopolitan socialities and intimacies following disasters, and the opportunities and risks they offer for restorative and reparative action for survivors and their communities. Reporting in particular on the experiences of LGBTQ Filipinos in post-Haiyan Tacloban, I discuss how the presence of foreign aid workers in everyday social spaces provided opportunities for queer identity expression and social attachments. I argue that cosmopolitan socialities, including new connections initiated via mobile dating platforms, were embraced by LGBTQs for their potential to share and repurpose wounds after rupture, especially in a conservative small-town context where LGBTQ identities have been historically repressed. This article attends to the opportunities and risks of queer cosmopolitanism as an uneven experience between middle-class and low-income LGBTQs.

Hooking up with friends: LGBTQ+ young people, dating apps, friendship and safety

“…A growing literature on dating/hook-up app use in situations of migration, tourism and trans-global employment or aid work, also highlights an expansion of app use beyond simply seeking dates or hook-ups. This includes research on Grindr use among locals and foreign aid workers in the Philippines (Ong, 2017), recent migrant experiences of Grindr in Denmark (Shield, 2018), the cosmopolitanism of migrant uses of Grindr in Belgium (Dhoest, 2018) and the use of Hornet in Turkey for connections between locals and tourists (Phua, 2020). In such examples as these, 'the hook-up app' is used as a tool for connecting to community, finding local information, making friends and gaining a sense of local cultures.…”

Toward an ordinary ethics of mediated humanitarianism: An agenda for ethnography

“…Investigating people's social attachments and modes of repair should include concern for how bodies commingle and repurpose their wounds, and allow for their undoing and regeneration. As I have discussed in the context of affected people's uses of dating and hook-up apps in the 'queer time' of disaster, touch and intimacy offer reparative possibilities, affirm affective investments to the future, and even embolden political expressions of queer identity and community (Ong, 2017).…”

Queer geographies of spatial media

“…Add to these prejudices, “revenge porn,” harassment, and “trolling,” part of the lived experiences of these spaces (especially for women) and an argument of “disconnect” is not so difficult to arrive at. This, though, is an oversimplification, and Ong () is among those who highlight how some are able to leverage spatial media in urban spaces to mitigate these very prejudices.…”