Here I Am And Here I’m Not: Queer Women’s Use Of Temporary Urban Spaces In Post-Katrina New Orleans

This thesis builds on previous work on the relationship between queer identities and urban space. Drawing from an analysis of two recurring New Orleans-based queer women’s events, I examine how lesbians and queer women not only use but also actively produce social spaces of their own through participation in events organized specifically for lesbians and queer women. Using qualitative methods, I examine the ephemeral and transient quality of lesbian and queer women’s social spaces in post-Katrina New Orleans and the processes through which such spaces come into being. I argue that lesbian and queer women’s production of ephemeral social spaces provides an opportunity to ground informal social networks in urban spatial locations, to sustain internal visibility, and to create embodied impressions of a cohesive community by emphasizing the role of the body, not geographic borders, for reimagining social territories in urban landscapes. Within this context, attention is given to the class-based and racial projects that affect the trajectory of contemporary queer urban space formation and queer women’s experiences therein.