Eastern Illinois University The Keep Masters Theses Student Theses & Publications 2018 Blurring the Spectrum: Exploring Queer Conservatism Austin P. Mejdrich Eastern Illinois University This research is a product of the graduate program in Political Science at Eastern Illinois University. Find out more about the program. Recommended Citation Mejdrich, Austin P., "Blurring the Spectrum: Exploring Queer Conservatism" (2018). Masters Theses. 3736. https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/3736 This is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses & Publications at The Keep. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of The Keep. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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PE;;;7-o<Y Graduate Degree Program Date Please submit in duplicate. Blurring the Spectrum: Exploring Queer Conservatism (TITLE) BY Austin Mejdrich P. THESIS SUBMITIED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Master of Arts in Political Science IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL, EASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY CHARLESTON, ILLINOIS 2018 YEAR I HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THIS THESIS BE ACCEPTED AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE GRADUATE DEGREE CITED ABOVE THESIS COMMITIEE CHAIR DATE DATE DR CHAIR'S DESIGNEE THESIS COMMITIEE MEMBER DATE DATE THESIS COMMITTEE MEMBER DATE BLURRING THE SPECTRUM: EXPLORlNG QUEER CONSERVATISM AUSTIN P. ME.IDRlCH EASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE MASTER·s THESIS 201 8 2 ABSTRACT Running parallel to the groundbreaking and historic advancement of LGBTQ rights over the past decade has been the rise in the prominence and public discourse of queer conservative thinking. From the Log Cabin Republicans to far-right nationalistic politics, queer conservatives underscore both diverging ideologies within the modem American conservative tradition and the increase of far-right politics in Western societies. This study argues that queer conservatism, while traditionally less explored in the broader context of sexuality politics. is consequential to an understanding of the LGBTQ community and queer politics. Thus. an exploration of queer conservatism as a political ideology is explored. in addition to novel quantitative analyses of this community. Additionally. theories are offered to explain the rise of far-right nationalistic views within queer conservatism after the 9/1 l and Pulse nightclub terrorist attacks. This study concludes that. while queer conservatism is a subset of the LGBTQ community. its foundations. legacies. and implications are critical to broader discussions of intersections of sexuality. heteronormativity. race. and post-9/11 politics. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................5 UNDERSTANDING QUEER CONSERVATISM .............................................. 11 DATA AND ANALYSIS ...............................................................................32 HOMONATIONALISM AND THE QUEER CONSERVATIVE ..............................44 CONCLUSION ..........................................................................................50 WORKS CITED ......................................................................................53 4 LIST OF GRAPHS ANO TABLES GRAPH 1 ..................... ................................................................. ........ 34 GRAPll 2 ............ ................................... ..... ............................................41 GRAPH 3........... ................................................................... ...................42 TABLE 1 ............. ....................................................................... ............35 TABLE 2 .............................. ........................................................... .......38 5 INTRODUCTION On June 12. 2016. almost 47 years to the day fromthe LGBTQ rights movement- launching Stonewall Riots. a lone gunman opened fire on Pulse nightclub, an LGBTQ club in Orlando. Florida. After the over three-hour long standoff between the gunman, first responders, and negotiators. forty-nine were dead and fifty-three more were wounded - most of whom were the Latinx attendees of that evening's "Latin Night" (Rothaus 2016; Stolberg and Perez-Pena 2017). The massacre, being the deadliest act of 1 violence against American LGBTQ people, shook deeply not only the queer community. but the wider American consciousness as well, as the Pulse massacre was the deadliest terror1st attack conducted on US soil since 9/11 and, until the Las Vegas shooting in 2017, the deadliest mass shooting in American history. Though not as common in more contemporary times. violence and disruption directed at queer people in bars, nightclubs. and other gathering spaces holds a lasting legacy forlhe LGBTQ community. For decades during the early to mid-twentieth century, police raids on largely mafia-owned bars were not uncommon as these protections were never treated as gospel. nor in coffee shops and restaurants where drag 1 A note on language usage in this paper: the term '"queer" is used throughout. Despite being commonly known as a derogatory term originally used against the LGBTQ community. "'queer'· has gone through a reclamation process by the gender and sexual minority community and is now increasingly used within the community. Taken from the LGBTQ media monitoring organization GLAAD, queer is generally accepted to mean, ··An adjective used by some people ...whose sexual orientation is not exclusively heterosexua1.·· GLAAD also notes: '·Some people may use queer. or more commonly genderqueer. to describe their gender identity and/or gender expression" ("GLAAD'"). .. Finally. GLAAD"s reference guide also stipulates "LGBTQ being the currently accepted and preferred acronym for the lesbian. gay. bisexual. transgender. queer. plus, community. Because of the diversity of the LGBTQ community, "queer•· is employed in this study. --Queer"· is also used to employ the academic sense of the word and non­ heteronormative analyses present in this work. 6 2 queens, transgender people, and other queer folks gathered (faderman 2015). Indeed. the Stonewall Riots began in the early hours of June 28, 1969 primarily as a fight against a police raid. And more recently, hate crimes committed against LGBTQ individuals at nightclubs have been documented like the 201 4 case of a man setting fire to a Seattle nightclub because of his hatred of gays and lesbians (Carter 201 4). Regardless of the perpetrator's motive, the violence witnessed at Pulse fit entirely too well into the collective memory of the LGBTQ community. While