A whole entire episode about thriving queer spaces? I know I’ve been waiting for it. Come follow Jack Gieseking and I down the queerness hole, through the d*king glass, right into C+ntoland. The extraordinarily lovely Jack and I chat about transdisciplinarity, queer geographies, Eve Sedgwick, accessibility, hot water bottles and lesbian poetry. Jack explains what queers want from their spaces, why we crave novelty, what constellations are and, most importantly, why d*ke and lesbian bars are neither dead nor dying.

Have you come across any poems or zines about d*ke bars? Please let Jack and I know on Twitter: @jgieseking and @queerlitpodcast. You can also find Jack on Mastodon and Instagram and look at pictures of the podcast cats on Instagram.

CW: transphobia, homophobia, antiqueerness and illness

References:
http://jgieseking.org/
A Queer New York: Geographies of Lesbians, Dykes, and Queers, 1983-2008 (NYU Press, 2020)
Gender, Sexuality and Space Reading List
http://jgieseking.org/current-projects/gender-sexuality-space-reading-list/
Eve Sedgwick
Cindi Katz
Nancy K. Miller
Martin Manalansan
Kath Weston
Jack Halberstam’s In A Queer Time and Place
Joelle Taylor’s C+not & Othered Poems
Caroline Bird’s Air Year
Pat Parker’s “Where Will You Be” (1978)
https://soundcloud.com/ajmcclenon/pat-parker-where-will-you-be
The Lexington Club
She Bar
Jack Gieseking’s D*ke Bars: Queer Trans Spaces for the End Times
Magnus Hirschfeld
The Marlborough
Vanilla (@ vanillagirlsmcr )
Melissa Wright’s Disappearing Women and Other Myths of Global Capitalism
Femicide
The Ruby Fruit ( @therubyfruit )
#ResearchInFocus Jack Gieseking (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWzc43-l2BI
ACT UP
Lesbian Avengers
Queer Nation
“Queer Data” with Carl Bonner-Thompson
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/48558974
Metronormativity
“Queer Cities” with Davy Knittle
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/46141754
Cait McKinney’s Information Activism

Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:

1. How does Jack describe environmental psychology and which other fields of research influence their work?
2. In Jack’s approach, how are locations in books or films relevant to queer geographies? Are you familiar with any literary or media representations of queer spaces?
3. What are Jack’s thoughts about common narratives of lesbian/d*ke bars?
4. What are ‘constellations’ in Jack’s work?
5. We talk about the contrasts between digital and physical queer spaces and constant versus ephemeral queer venues. Are any of these significant in your life?