Not going to the mainland: queer women’s narratives of place in Tasmania, Australia

Abstract

Within Australian geographies of sexualities, most work centres the urban areas of Sydney, New South Wales, while less is known about queer life in regional and rural Australia. In contrast, this article explores how lesbian, bisexual and queer young women understand and experience identity and place in Tasmania. Using a queer futurities theoretical framework and a qualitative feminist methodology, in this article I examine how narratives of place shape queer Tasmanians’ understandings of identity, belonging, and home. Participant narratives of leaving, arriving, and returning to Tasmania reflect dominant rural youth migration patterns, while also providing new insights into how queer young people position Tasmanian space, identities and futures in broader Australian culture. This article draws on recent work in geographies of sexuality to show how Tasmania produces unique sexual identity cultures that influence queer young women’s sense of time and place.

Keywords:

• Australia
• belonging
• home
• futurity
• rural
• sexuality

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Briohny Walker and Dr Kerryn Drysdale for their generous advice on earlier drafts of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ruby Grant

Ruby Grant is a Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Tasmania. Her research interests broadly include gender equity and diversity in education and healthcare, with a specific focus on sexuality studies, queer theory, and LGBTIQ health politics.