Considering the internet as enabling queer publics / counter publics

From the in­ter­net’s hum­ble be­gin­nings as a hand­ful of in­ter­con­nec­ted ma­chi­nes in the 1960s to its wide dis­tri­bu­ti­on in the 1990s, noo­ne could have fo­re­se­en what it has grown into to­day – a pu­blic net­work open to all who have ac­cess to a screen with a con­nec­tion to the web.

The di­gi­tal en­vi­ron­ment has be­co­me as much of a real space as a park, cof­fee shop, town squa­re, clo­thing store or a couch in your li­ving room. Peop­le have ac­tive­ly in­te­gra­ted their li­ves with their di­gi­tal do­ings to the point that they are be­co­m­ing di­gi­tal beings. This pa­per ser­ves to dis­cuss di­gi­tal as a space for po­li­tics to play out, in par­ti­cu­lar in re­la­ti­on to pu­blics and coun­ter pu­blics. It does so through the lens of what oc­cur­red in 2012 at Jo­han­nes­burg Pri­de South Af­ri­ca.

To ex­plo­re les­bi­an, gay, bi­se­xu­al, trans­gen­der, in­ter­sex, ase­xu­al and queer (LGB­TIAQ) iden­ti­ties, Pri­de, pu­blics and coun­ter pu­blics through di­gi­tal spaces, this pa­per re­qui­res a theo­re­ti­cal groun­ding in queer theo­ry and in­ter­net stu­dies. It is vi­tal for the dis­cus­sion of di­gi­tal space in re­la­ti­on to queer po­li­tics and coun­ter pu­blics that a fair­ly de­tai­led con­text of what oc­cur­red at Jo­burg Pri­de 2012 is pro­vi­ded, as well as a broa­der back­ground of Jo­burg Pri­de sin­ce the in­au­gu­ral pa­ra­de was held in 1990. The dis­cus­sion then mo­ves on to un­packing iden­ti­ty and its re­la­ti­on to the in­ter­net, and the op­por­tu­nities the in­ter­net af­fords LGB­TIAQ peop­le with par­ti­cu­lar at­ten­ti­on paid to pu­blics and coun­ter pu­blics.

Read the full article in GenderIT.org .