Queer visibility in the digital era: fostering intersectionality and privacy

Click on the link to Queering the Map below.

GRSJ 304
Sarah P
2024/12/08

Lucas LaRochelle created "Queering the Map" as a platform to apply queer affect theory

Internet and digital spaces provide a unique opportunity for interactions between people. Being queer can often feel isolating. "Queering the Map" provides a platform that can only exist through the internet. By archiving text of queer affects, LaRochelle provides a kind of proof of existence of queer people and experiences, and how widespread it is.

Using digital media to archive queern experiences, histories, anything that anyone defines on their own as being worthy of posting.

When I first found "Queering the Map," I spent a long time just scrolling around and reading what different people had written. I ended up crying. Visibility may not lead to action, but it certainly feels good to know you are not alone.

Queerness is broad. Every single person has their own definition of their identity, driven by their affect. This is a space where people can define themselves.

Many times I have wished I was not gay, I wished I was not trans.

For me, often the best I can do is keep going, and to keep being myself. I have to work to not resent it.

Exploring contributions made by others, or making your own contributes to a global network of solidarity.

Queerness in the intersection of age and nationality is something that speaks really strongly to me. Experiences of queerness are completely different across different intersections, but there is certainly a unitedness here with people.

Anonymity provides a safety net for people. It allows people to share without the fear of exposure.

Queering the Map reminds me that I have to keep going not just for myself, but for those around me as well.

Platform capitalism thrives off of the division of people and communities. Discourse drives engagement which drives profit

Many public digital queer platforms are not safe for queer people. Anonymity allows the openness of a worldwide digital space.

Posts on queering the map are not constant. The model shifts towards one post per person, rather than a constant stream of updates. In contrast to digital platforms, which exist to keep you using and scrolling.

The first time I went to a gay club, there was an older butch couple dancing together. In that moment I felt that I wanted to keep existing as myself, that I wanted to get that far in my life.

Many platforms rely on engagement, pushed by division. "Queering the Map" acts as an archive, not relying on constantly generating engagement.

Queering the map is an example of an anonymous, non-economically driven platform.

To be seen and heard is an act of resistance in and of itself for many.

In order to facilitate continued use and profit, platforms collect data, then sell it or use it to build algorithms to push engagement.

"There’re lots of benefits to collecting user data: we could tell who’s been spamming us, and block hackers. The issue is that we’d be collecting data from anonymous queer people, and anonymity is key to our ethos. We won’t know who’s attacking us, but it’s worth it. We shouldn’t collect data from people."
- Lucas LaRochelle

Posts vary.
Detailed histories of places, stories of love, heartbreak, crushes, coming out. People telling jokes, comforting others, hope for the future.

Posts are dedicated to lovers, friends, family, and strangers.