User:TheguywiththePorsche911/T’s History of LGBTQ+ Communication Studies and History of Queer Communication Studies

Topic 1 - History of queer communication studies and the switch from identity politics to value based politics.

Article body

Identity politics and how it fails to fully be used as an asset to the entire LGBTQ+ community. Identity politics fails to provide any type of benefit for other identity groups such as transgender, bisexual, and nonbinary people as they are different from gay and lesbian identities and tend to get generalized into these more common identity groups. While significant gains have been made in advancing LGBTQ+ awareness and rights through the use of identity politics, it is now apparent that LGBTQ+ identities other than gay and lesbian aren't able to benefit from it. People who identify as bisexual or another identity that is more fluid are unable to have a voice within this political sphere due to the large amount of biphobia present in the gay and lesbian communities. Switching to value politics would unite our society ideologically instead of being divided along the lines of identity. By accepting a minority status, heteronormative people are discouraged to critically think about how sexuality is politicized in modern culture. Scholars describe how the use of identity politics risks losing the ability to critique the heteronormative that non-heterosexuality implies

Topic 2 - History of Queer theory

Article Body

Queer theory aims to challenge "modern system of sexuality as a body of knowledge that structures and organizes the personal, institutional, and cultural life of individuals in western societies. Queer theory is more broad as opposed to sex, gender, and sexuality. Queer theory is one of the biggest and most influential LGBTQ+ movements of the past two decades and aims to suggest that all people and psyches are "offered intelligibility through their relationship to a particular set of norms". this concept theory was originally used to analyze political movements, and activism before the turn of the century. Queer theory focuses on the historical, social, and cultural foundations of desire and sexuality intersecting with other identities, such as race, class, and gender.  Queer theory has contributed to research and media within the realms of social sciences, art and education. Queer theory suggest that sexual identities are intersecting with race, class, and gender, among others, as opposed to singular, stable, and essentialized social positioning. In other words, it tries to explain the fluidity of sexuality.

T's Draft 2
Topic 1 - Early History of Queer Communication studies

Queer communication studies has been around since the mid 1970's and has continued to develop into a well respected field of study. The LGBTQ+ community was still very much misunderstood as access to credible information in regards to communication was hard to come by. Prior to the mid 1970's, sexuality was not a main focal point to study within the communication discipline. It wasn't until 1976 when the The Quarterly Journal for speech released one of the first essays on homosexuality. Another publication related to this field was called "Gayspeak" by James Chesebro, which was one of the first books that attempted to explain how LGBTQ+ individuals communicate with one another as well as how they communicate with heterosexual people. The goal was to find out how these communication processes affected public opinion about homosexuality. One of the earliest research topics of the time period was related to how LGBTQ+ individuals used identity deception or pretended to act a certain way in order create particular impressions and self-representations that allowed them to blend into society. Through the use of verbal and nonverbal communication, identity deception allows for LGBTQ+ individuals to avoid any societal disapproval as they are able to follow the verbal and nonverbal norms of heteronormative communication. Identity deception was not only used to blend in with the heteronormative, it was used by the LGBTQ+ community out of fear for their safety.

Topic 2 - HIV/AIDS and history of queer communication studies

The HIV/AIDS epidemic was responsible for perpetuating the stereotype that only gay queer men were at risk of contracting the deadly disease. Furthermore, this false claim allowed for many heterosexual people to believe that they were completely immune to the virus. Not only was misinformation being spread, but it was also negatively affecting the attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community. The education system itself was also riddled with misinformation and change was sure to happen. In response, multiple organizations formed in order to expand the research on queer communication. A few examples include the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) that was created in 1990 with the simple goal of improving the relationship between heterosexual and LGBTQ+ students. Or CLAGS: The Center for LGBTQ Studies which was the very first university-based research center in the United States to study the cultural and political issues of the LGBTQ+ community. Although not a communication scholar, Teresa de Lauretis is responsible for the creation of the term queer theory and communication theorist have expanded on the term. Queer Theory challenges the idea of heterosexuality being the benchmark for sexual formations, and distinguishes the different groups that are under the LGBTQ+ umbrella. Queer communication studies started out small, but the field has grown exponentially over the past 4 decades.