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‘Just stupid drama queens’ : how police constrain, regulate, and punish the public visibilities of sexual/gender diversity as out of place

conference contribution
posted on 2023-05-23, 10:46 authored by Angela DwyerAngela Dwyer
Using interview data on LGBT young peoples’ policing experiences, I argue policing practices work to constrain public visibilities of sexual and gender diversity in public spaces. Police actions recounted by LGBT young people suggest the workings of a certain kind of visuality (Mason, 2002) and evidenced more subtle actions that sought to constrain, regulate, and punish public visibilities of sexual and gender diversity. Aligning with the work of sexualities academics and theorists, this paper suggests that, like violence is itself a bodily spectacle from which onlookers come to know things, policing works to subtly constrain public visibilities of “queerness”. Policing interactions with LGBT young people serves the purpose of visibly yet unverifiably (Mason, 2002) regulating displays of sexual and gender diversity in public spaces. The paper concludes noting how police actions are nonetheless visible and therefore make knowable to the public the importance of keeping same sex intimacy invisible in public spaces.

History

Publication title

Proceedings of Crime, Justice and Social Democracy

Editors

Tauri, Juan

Pagination

319-336

ISBN

978-0-9871533-2-6

Department/School

School of Social Sciences

Publisher

Queensland University of Technology

Place of publication

Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD

Event title

Crime, Justice and Social Democracy

Event Venue

School of Justice, QUT, Brisbane, QLD

Date of Event (Start Date)

2011-09-26

Date of Event (End Date)

2011-09-28

Rights statement

Copyright 2011 The Author

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Gender and sexualities; Law enforcement