Expanding Queer Cartographies
Studying the geography of queer spaces and communities
In collaboration with Annelise Heinz, Eric Gonzaba, and Amanda Regan, our project Expanding Queer Cartographies maps queer spaces and communities in the late 20th century. We address a critical gap in LGBTQ+ spatial history: where were the women? While gay men’s venues are increasingly documented, we know much less about where lesbian women gathered. Our project transcribes and maps tens of thousands of listings of women- and lesbian-friendly venues printed in Gaia’s Guide, the premier lesbian travel guide of the 1970s-1990s. Our collaboration builds on the award-winning project Mapping the Gay Guides, which maps hundreds of thousands of listings in Bob Damron’s Guide - the era’s most popular travel guide for gay men.
Previously, Dr. Heinz and I published “‘Separated, but Far from Alone’: Forging Lesbian Networks in the 1970s–1980s,” in The Pacific Historical Review. In it, we mapped thousands of locations printed in Lesbian Connection, an influential bimonthly magazine with a national readership. Businesses ran advertisements in Lesbian Connection for commercial ventures such as Greasy Gorgon Garage, a lesbian-run mechanic’s shop in Hatfield, MA, or the women-owned record company Ariana Productions out of Cleveland, OH. Community groups posted notices about lesbian festivals, conferences, and resources, while individuals wrote letters to weigh in on issues or volunteered to act as local guides through a “Contact Dyke Directory.” Mapping these locations reveals a massive, geographically distributed network that challenges preconceptions of where lesbian feminists lived, worked, organized, and traveled.
2024
- “Separated, but far from alone”: Forging Lesbian Networks in the 1970s–1980sPacific Historical Review, Aug 2024