Queering the Midwest: Forging LGBTQ Community

"Drag shows that test the capacity of bars persist alongside wishes for stronger community among River City's LGBTQ population. In this examination of LGBTQ community in a small, Midwestern city, Clare Forstie highlights the ambivalence of LGBTQ lives inthe rural Midwest. Drawing on in-depth interviews, ethnographic research, and friendship mapping, Forstie reveals the ways that community spaces are disappearing and emerging, LGBTQ people feel safe and unrecognized, and friendships do and don't matter. In this community, non-LGBTQ allies are essential support for their LGBTQ friends and organizations, but, sometimes, their support comes at a cost. Those who find they feel most comfortable and safe also align with community norms, forming with and connecting to families and identities that are the majority in River City. Forstie offers the story of a community that does not fit neatly into a narrative of progress or decline. Rather, it's a little bit of both. Forstie's ambivalent community framework reveals the ways we might think about our communities and relationships more authentically, embracing the contradictions that inform the possibilities for change"--
For this ethnographic study of LGBTQ communities, Clare Forstie (Center for Educational Innovation, University of Minnesota) was embedded in “River City,” a smaller, predominantly white, working-class city in the post-industrial American Midwest. Challenging assumptions about how LGBTQ communities grow and change, Forstie argues that River City’s LGBTQ community does not follow the linear narrative of progress suggested by researchers of urban gay neighborhoods. From this conclusion, she extrapolates that different phases of LGBTQ community development can coexist in the same place. Drawing on interviews with LGBTQ young people, Forstie seeks to understand their decisions to stay in the town and the role of LGBTQ friends and non-LGBTQ family in their lives, especially the role of friendship in LGBTQ community formation. The book includes about 20 pages of appendices offering interview scripts, key terms, statistics, and reflections on methodology. Annotation ©2022 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
How LGBTQ community life in a small Midwestern city differs from that in larger cities with established gayborhoodsRiver City is a small, Midwestern, postindustrial city surrounded by green hills and farmland with a population of just over 50,000. Most River City residents are white, working-class Catholics, a demographic associated with conservative sexual politics. Yet LGBTQ residents of River City describe it as a progressive, welcoming, and safe space, with active LGBTQ youth groups and regular drag shows that test the capacity of bars.In this compelling examination of LGBTQ communities in seemingly “unfriendly” places, Queering the Midwest highlights the ambivalence of LGBTQ lives in the rural Midwest, where LGBTQ organizations and events occur occasionally but are generally not grounded in long-standing LGBTQ institutions. Drawing on in-depth interviews and ethnographic observation, Clare Forstie offers the story of a community that does not fit neatly into a narrative of progress or decline. Rather, this book reveals the contradictions of River City’s LGBTQ community, where people feel both safe and unnoticed, have a sense of belonging and persistent marginalization, and have friendships that do and don’t matter. These “ambivalent communities” in small Midwestern cities challenge the ways we think about LGBTQ communities and relationships and push us to embrace the contradictions, failures, and possibilities of LGBTQ communities across the American Midwest.