Wayne State University Wayne State University Dissertations 2020 Coming Out As Complex: Understanding LGBTQ+ Community Writing Groups Hillary E. Weiss Wayne State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations Part of the Rhetoric and Composition Commons Recommended Citation Weiss, Hillary E., "Coming Out As Complex: Understanding LGBTQ+ Community Writing Groups" (2020). Wayne State University Dissertations. 2518. https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/2518 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@WayneState. It has been accepted for inclusion in Wayne State University Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@WayneState. COMING OUT AS COMPLEX: UNDERSTANDING LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY WRITING GROUPS by HILLARY E WEISS DISSERTATION Submitted to the Graduate School of Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 2020 MAJOR: ENGLISH (Rhetoric and Composition) Approved By: ___________________________________ Advisor Date ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ © COPYRIGHT BY HILLARY E WEISS 2020 All Rights Reserved DEDICATION This project is dedicated to all LGBTQ+ and Two-Spirit individuals—those who are out and proud, those who are not out, those who are questioning, those who are transitioning, those who refuse to transition, those who are at odds with family, friends, and the world, those who have been bullied and violated, those who were murdered. Family, if you’d hadn’t already guessed due to my research, I am pansexual—I’m attracted to people, not genders. I dedicate this project to you as well so that you may take this opportunity to learn. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to teachers and professors at Siena and Bowling Green who supported me along this very long journey, including Mrs. King, Mrs. McCormick, and Mrs. Chryst, Dr. Barst, Matt and Karin Barbee, Ian Bell, and Bill Albertini. All of you saw potential in me and encouraged me. Thank you eternally. Thank you to Donnie Johnson Sackey who inspired this project through our Digital Detroit course, kept me on track, was understanding through tough times, agreed to stay on my committee, and motivated me with his very cool research and Instagram food posts. Thank you to Jeff Pruchnic for your advice and feedback, your empathy, listening ear, and reassurance, and your humour. I think you may appreciate this quote in terms of my dissertation: “Sometimes I’ll start a sentence and I don’t even know where it’s going. I just hope I find it along the way.” – Michael Scott (Season 5, The Duel). Thank you to committee members for your feedback as the project progressed. Simone— you think you give too much feedback, but it is SO helpful! Ellen—thank you for agreeing to be on my committee so late and offering your support. To Amy, Adrienne, Thomas, Joe, and countless others—thank you for your hard work and constant support to graduate students. To Mariel, Bruno, and Cooper—just thank you for your kindness. To Stacey, Tank, and Princess—I miss you. iii Thank you to my original cohort at Wayne State for being brilliant, challenging, and supportive. To my family: Mom and dad—thank you for your encouragement that I can do anything. Cody—Mmmp. Mine—I love you. Andrea—I’m excited to see you, Chris, and the boys again. Thank you to Copper for all of the sweet snuggles and Modi for her support from afar. To my current writing group, especially those members who continue to attend—you are the greatest. To Blue. Hey, you’re going to see me graduate, just like you dreamed. I can’t wait to walk those trails in Ontario, search for rocks by Lake Superior, and pick apples. “I'll be the Earth that grounds you from the chaos all around/I'll be the home you return to/I can be your middle ground/I can serve as a reminder/If you jump you will not fall/Go on and spread those words of reason/We are water after all.” – Nahko and Medicine for the People I love you, my sun and stars. iv Table of Contents Dedication ......................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... iii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. vii Chapter 1: Piecing together LGBTQ+ writing and writing groups .................................................. 1 LGBTQ+ identity and literacy ............................................................................................. 3 LGBTQ+ identity in Composition Spaces........................................................................... 5 Writing Group History ......................................................................................................... 8 Theoretical Frame .............................................................................................................. 13 Methods ............................................................................................................................. 15 Writing group descriptions ................................................................................................ 16 Overview............................................................................................................................ 18 Chapter 2: Methods and methodologies: Reducing the distance between participants and researchers ........................................................................................................................................................ 21 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 21 Decolonial and Feminist Methodologies ........................................................................... 22 The Process of Finding Writing Groups ............................................................................ 26 Surveys .............................................................................................................................. 27 Interviews .......................................................................................................................... 31 Analyzing Data .................................................................................................................. 33 Feedback from Participants ............................................................................................... 36 Reciprocity ......................................................................................................................... 38 Limitations ......................................................................................................................... 40 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 42 Chapter 3: What’s the Purpose?: LGBTQ+ Community Writing Groups and their Identities ...... 43 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 43 Improving Writing and Educational Purposes ................................................................... 46 Educating the Community ................................................................................................. 50 Writing Groups and Publishing: Traditional and Non-Traditional Methods..................... 51 v Emotional Support ............................................................................................................. 55 LGBTQ+ Writing Groups: Queer Writing Spaces, Spaces for Queer, Writing People, and Spaces for Writing Queer People................................................................................................... 57 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 65 Chapter 4: “Everything is Sex, Except Sex, which is Power”: LGBTQ+ Writing Groups and the Hierarchies and Conflicts Within ................................................................................................... 66 Facilitators Distributing Power .......................................................................................... 73 Conflicts and Power ........................................................................................................... 74 Institutional Influence ........................................................................................................ 82 Power through Attendance ................................................................................................ 84 Rhetorical Listening for Conflicts ..................................................................................... 85 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 92 Chapter 5: Where Do We Go from Here? ...................................................................................... 93 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 93 Rhetorical Listening in the Classroom 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