Whence the Lesbian in Queer Monumentality? Intersections of Gender and Sexuality in Public Memory

Queer Monuments: Visibility, (Counter)actions, Legacy

“…This complex interplay may open up a "queer potential" for destabilizing norms and visualizing, or recuperating, sexual and gender "others" through, e.g., the site selection, visual display, and performances around queer monuments, which may negotiate formal and informal rights in/to space (see Pierce, Williams, & Martin, 2016) of, in this case, sexual and gender minorities (see Dunn, 2017).…”

“…2 That is, we employ it as a critical tenet in challenging identity categories, representations, and assumptions and norms around sexuality and gender. These are, in this case, spatialized, visualized, and socially (re-)constructed through the monument's materiality and related embodied memorial practices (see Dunn, 2011Dunn, , 2017.…”

“…Elaborating on Orangias et al (2018), our joint examination highlights aspects around visibility, public (counter)actions, 6 and legacy to be particularly at play, and negotiated, across our cases (explained in the sections hereinafter). Our argument attends to the critical roles that such monuments have played in engaging with how sexual and gender "others," and absent or "othered" sexual and gender relations-whilst acknowledging the complex intersectionalities involved (see Dunn, 2017)-have fallen in and out of place through social struggles, radical politics, and collective memory in the recent past. Hence, this study advocates the expansion of knowledge of how queer monuments may memorialize, and visibilize, sexual/gender minorities.…”

“…There is increasing interest in the inclusive imperatives of socially engaged public art (e.g., Cartiere & Zebracki, 2016). However, the nexus of inclusive public art/monuments, sexuality, and identity politics provides much more uncharted territory-where public responses to sexuality-inflected artwork can be very pronounced (see Dunn, 2017;Zebracki, 2020a). We open up a particular niche by diving into some ingrained, and at times aggressive and violent, forms of cleavages and opposition around queer monuments-which are, by extension, targeted against LGBT+ rights.…”

“…Through our cross-case auto-/ethnography and archival study, this conversational article contributes novel grounded, comparative insights into debates on queer monuments and how they aid in remembering, and providing critical reflection on, LGBT+ lives and experiences (e.g., Dunn, 2017;Orangias et al, 2018;Zebracki, 2017aZebracki, , 2020a. Despite some multi-authored publications, this research field, and the particular canon on queer monuments/memorializing, is still governed by single voices in lieu of dialogic texts as we pursue on these pages.…”