Gender outlaws in non-binary space

Abstract

This auto-ethnographic study combines gender studies, geography, and sociology to examine how gender nonconforming people navigate ostensibly gender non-binary spaces in a post-industrial urban context. These spaces and the groups that use them to hold their public gatherings often serve as the initial contact zones for people who are beginning to discover their non-normative identities, and are often the entry point for engagement with the wider queer community (Doan, 2007). This presentation looks at how the ‘tyranny of gender’ (Doan, 2010) plays out in a gender inclusive space and how gender policing enforces binaries in these spaces. It asks if queer spaces succeed at serving those who exist outside cis heteronormativity, or is this only a theoretical construct (Rushbrook, 2002)? Geographers are realizing that gender nonconforming people experience space and place differently than cisgender gay and lesbian people because of cis privilege (Lubitow, 2017) and that they are not nearly as free to create themselves as they see fit and be seen as authentic and valid (Serano, 2007). As someone who identifies as genderqueer, I use my experiences of coming out publicly to my local transgender social group to illustrate the ways in which the tyranny of gender creeps into these spaces, but also how liberating and affirming the process can be, potentially leading to a more holistic sense of self and increased life chances. I look to show how this process played out and by adding a critical spatial lens for analysis, how dichotomized conceptions of gender are to be found even in ostensibly safe queer spaces.