Author(s): Clare Forstie

LGBTI & Queer Studies

River City is a small, Midwestern, postindustrial city surrounded by green hills and farmland with a population of just over 50,000. A majority of River City citizens are white, working class, and Catholic, Trump's primary demographic in the 2016 and 2020 elections. Yet drag shows test the capacity of the bars that host them. LGBTQ youth groups at community centers persist, and LGBTQ residents describe River City as a progressive, welcoming, and safe space. In this compelling examination of LGBTQ communities in places often assumed to be unfriendly, Queering the Midwest highlights the ambivalence of queer lives in the rural Midwest. Drawing on in-depth interviews and ethnographic observation, Clare Forstie offers the story of a community that does not fit neatly into a narrative of progress or decline. These "ambivalent communities" challenge the ways we think about LGBTQ life and relationships and push us to embrace the contradictions, possibilities, and failures of queer communities across the American Midwest. Book jacket.

December 2022