User:OsaRosa/4. Intersectionality and LGBTQ Communication Studies

LGBTQ+ Communication Studies Histories and Foundations
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Intersectionality and LGBTQ+ Communication Studies
The theory of intersectionality was first theorized by Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989 to examine how Black women were facing exclusion and violence connected to both their race and gender simultaneously. Since then, Communication Studies researchers have expanded the theory of intersectionality to examine how people have many identifying identities that make them who they are such as sexuality, gender, race, nationality, and religion. Importantly intersectionality examines how people with these intersecting identities face discrimination, marginalization, and violence due to these intersections. undefined Communication Studies researchers have analyzed how LGBTQ+ people’s intersecting identities affect their lives in different cultures and scenarios. Intersectionality research in Communication Studies focused on how, at any given time, the main social categories that separate people in a society, like race, class, gender, sexuality, disability, and age, are connected and cannot be separated; instead, they work together and build on each other and create experiences of injustice and privilege.

LGBTQ+ Intersectional Feminist Communication Studies
The feminist movement has been strongly praised for its role in empowering women; however parts of the movements often focused on straight, white, able bodied, middle-class women. Communication researchers theorize intersectionality and feminism by examining how people of all genders have multiple intersecting identities such as sexuality, race, gender, nationality, and religion. This can examine how women with these intersectional identities are discriminated against based on race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity, or disabilities. Feminist organizational communication scholars are looking into ways to integrate intersectionality to assist marginalized women in a work environment who face racism, ableism, and homophobia. Scholars are also researching how queer theory can be adopted into organizational communication to allow a safer, more accepting environment for LGBTQ+ people in the work place.

Queer and Trans People of Color (QTPOC) Communication Studies
Transgender people and people of color are two groups of people who face discrimination and marginalization across their lives. Communication researchers study how queer and trans people of color (QTPOC) navigate how their intersecting identities interact as they communicate in many contexts. Trans people of color often experience discrimination as well as emotional and physical violence against them due to the linkages of cisheteronormativity and racism. Due to safety needs and risks of violence, QTPOC need safer spaces and ways to gather together to celebrate life, like queer bars. LGBTQ+ communication research explores the intersection of these identities examining how people in different cultures and upbringings engage with queer people of color. Communication researchers have been analyzing the queer-of-color critique that suggests whiteness within the queer community is seemingly more accepting compared the people of color.

Quare Communication Theory
Communication researchers have examined how different groups have theorized versions of intersectionality, and some communities have created terms that describe the intersectionality of their own group. For example, Quare individuals are Black gay men whom face challenges in society that are unique to themselves and their Black, queer masculinity. The word Quare comes from an incorrect pronunciation of "Queer" spoken by communication and performance studies scholar E. Patrick Johnson's grandmother who lives in North Carolina. Johnson took inspiration from his grandmother's older and harsher perspectives of queer people, and he wrote about a new identity called "Quare," which is separate from his grandmother's definition. Further research on Quare Theory has examined how Internet sites like YouTube also invite gay Black men to share their similar experiences coming out and receiving criticism, which helps to define what Quare means for them. The Quare community has made clear the importance of the distinction between Quare and Queer because their intersectional experiences have not offered the same privileges or experiences as other white queer people.

Queer and Religious Communication Intersections
LGBTQ+ Communication Studies research has investigated the complex relationships of being queer and religious as tied to conflicting beliefs, values, and interpretations of sexual identity. Scholars note that liminality is the in-between state of transitioning, and it can be used to describe the relationship that many queer people have with religion. With the risk of being disciplined or excluded for coming out, many gay Christians must create an identity that works for themself and their environment. Similar issues with finding identity are found with transgenders who go to church. Researchers found that trans people experience backlash and discrimination at some churches because the congregation believes that transgender people are against the doctrine of the church. One example was a transgender male priest named Weekely. Conservative members of the United Methodist Church, the same denomination of Weekely, purposely misgendered Weekely in their letters.

Queer and Crip Communication Intersections
Researchers examined power relations and the necessity of giving voice to an underrepresented LGBTQ+ community. This study addresses a group that includes a variety of different kinds of people who are active in online activism, such as LGBTQ+ disabled people. The research concluded that online platforms are very important for these LGBTQ+ communities to build strong coalitions. These groups challenge traditional ideas of community and make political engagement possible in more places than just standard physical locations. Many LGBTQ+ individuals who are disabled reported to researchers that they do not have a voice in general society. The study found that when disabled LGBTQ+ people are given a chance to have a say, they are looked down upon by able-bodied people who only see disability as a needing correction. The researchers ultimately stressed how essential it is to appreciate and recognize a range of experiences, to question established norms, and to advance fairness and inclusivity in speech and action.