Queer Italia Network

Until the 1990s, 'queer' was largely understood as a term of abuse for homosexuals. Since then, it has been reclaimed by activists and scholars seeking to validate identities and sexualities that trouble or transgress social norms: these include the notion that monogomous, reproductive heterosexuality is the standard, and that any other forms of desire or sexual practice are 'deviations'. 'Queer' is often taken to mean any way of being that is at odds with what is considered 'normal'. Research on queer experiences in the Italian context is urgently required for three reasons: 1) In Italy, there is still no national legislation to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual/transgender and queer (LGBTQ) individuals, and campaigns to combat discrimination, to tackle homophobic bullying in schools, to protect LGBTQ asylum seekers, and to challenge prejudice are under attack from groups such as the 'Sentinelle in piedi' (Standing Sentinels) who oppose initiatives that seek to protect the rights of LGBTQ individuals. This situation means that discrimination is widespread, and victims have no recourse to the law to protect them. 2) Very little research on queer lives and phenomena has been carried out in Italy, partly because the Italian academy is generally resistant to queer theories and methodologies, including critical and interdisciplinary analyses of social and cultural constructions of race, ethnicity, sexuality, and gender. Despite this, the Italian context offers a wealth of queer thought and activism that demands critical attention in order to understand more fully the changing expressions and experiences of sexuality. This project will also analyse important dissenting voices that denounce sexual and racial discrimination, for example, including amongst communities of LGBTQ immigrants and refugees seeking asylum due to sexual discrimination. This will reinvigorate debate on a crucial aspect of human experience and will contribute in important ways to multiple academic disciplines (including Literary Studies, History of Sexuality, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Human Geography, Sociology, Cultural and Media Studies), as well as to policy (the Project Team (PT) will write a paper making research recommendations on issues of LGBTQ rights). 3) While many established scholars have called for wider engagement with queer ideas and perspectives that have emerged in different linguistic contexts, queer theories continue to remain focussed on the Anglophone world, and have not yet entered into dialogue with Italian thought on sexual and other forms of dissidence. However, as mentioned, the Italian tradition offers a rich array of theoretical positions and cultural interventions, including activism and contemporary performance art, that might contextualize, challenge and reshape existing Anglophone theories. Dialogue with contemporary and historical radical Italian thought on sexuality, as well as with cultural practitioners who tackle this and other queer subjects through art or theatre, may also enable queer studies scholars to overcome what some see as stumbling blocks in current thinking.

The project will focus on the following questions:
1) Theories and Practices: How have Anglophone queer theories been received in Italy and what queer perspectives and practices have developed in Italian culture? How might transnational dialogues foster larger academic and social investigations and understanding of both the Anglophone and Italian queer contexts?
2) Representation and Reappropriation: How are queer lives, moments and politics represented in Italian media and culture, and how do queer perspectives impact on and provide alternatives to dominant contemporary and historical media forms?
3) Interstitial Spaces/Temporalities: What insights can be gained from queer theoretical and creative explorations of class, sex, gender, race, and migration that focus on intersectionality and inbetweenness?

Four main groups will benefit from the research: 1) artists, performers and festival organisers; 2) the general public; 3) local and global LGBTQ communities; 4) policy makers.
1)selected artists, performers and festival organisers will participate in the workshops and will be involved in the performances and exhibition that will run alongside these events. They will gain insights into cutting-edge academic discussions of queer cultures, politics and representation, as well as contributing to these discussions. The workshops will offer a unique opportunity to share and debate practice and ideas with a highly-specialised group of scholars, artists and practitioners, both during the workshops and for the duration of the project, via the interactive website, blog and twitter feed. Any performers or festival organisers who do not attend the workshops will be able to become involved via the interactive website and social media. The network will enable them to broaden their own contacts and audiences, and to develop new ideas together with other network members.
2)members of the general public will be able to attend the free public performances and exhibition, as well as get involved in discussion via the website and social media. Engagement with the research will lead to critical reflection on queer cultures and issues, and has the potential to broaden attitudes, and increase tolerance and acceptance of difference, as well as the social integration of LGBTQ individuals. This has proven socio-cultural and economic benefits since it promotes social and cultural cohesion and engagement, and decreases isolation and potential mental health problems (Badgett et al. 2014).
3)local and global LGBTQ communities: these communities can include isolated and marginalised individuals, and in Italy (as well as elsewhere in the world) LGBTQ rights are not protected by law. Therefore these communities will benefit specifically from attending the free public events, from engaging with debates via social media and the website and from the very presence of a queer focussed event: research has shown that even knowing that such events are taking place can improve the well-being and mental health of LGBTQ individuals (Jones and Kempton 2011). While not all LGBTQ-identified individuals have access to the internet, there is a large global LGBTQ community that does make significant use of it, making it relatively straightforward to contact and begin to establish dialogue with communities at global and local level. Websites for LGBTQ associations provide an excellent point of contact, as do online discussion forums. Given the lack of legislation proecting LGBTQ individuals in Italy, there is a significant Italian LGBTQ diasporic population, part of which has already been identified and reached by the association Archivio Queer Italia, with which we will be collaborating. In their view, this population is keen to engage in the kinds of dialogue and initiatives proposed by this project.
4)policy makers will benefit from the policy recommendations drafted by the PT at the end of the project, together with input from experienced campaigners and lobbyists involved in Arcigay/Arcilesbica. The recommendations have the potential to impact on the lack of legislation regarding LGBTQ rights in Italy, as well as on support for cultural activities that represent queer lives and experiences. The PT will target Ministers for Equal Opportunities and Culture in particular.

Timescales: The research has the potential to impact swiftly on groups 1-3, and certainly from around 6 months into the project (when the website and blog will be relatively well-established) and for its entire duration. The website and blog will then remain available after the end of the project, and open access academic publications will also be available from the end of the project onwards. Impact on group 4 will begin after the end of the project.