Queer Constellations in the Big Easy: Making Space in New Orleans

Abstract

This article explores LGBTQ+ space-making practices and spaces in New Orleans, Louisiana. It analyzes spaces to understand why, how, and for whom they were made. I conducted interviews with LGBTQ+ New Orleanians and utilized queer geographical theory, to present LGBTQ+ spaces across New Orleans as “queer constellations” of time and space on the map of the city marking places of importance to individuals and/or the broader LGBTQ+ community. To differentiate between the various types of spaces found, I divided them into four categories: lost space, transient space, explicitly queer space, and non-explicitly queer space. Through an intersectional lens of gender, race, sexuality, and socioeconomic status, this article attempts to examine whether the diversity and globality of the city were reflected in its queer spaces.