Taylor Colorado Wk 12 Response

This week as we engaged Queer Placemaking and considered the nexus between race, space, and queerness, we read part of Christina Hardt’s Safe Space, Horacio Roque Ramirez’ “That’s my place,” and watched part of the documentary Flag Wars. Hardt’s Safe Space is a novel that explores the history of gay neighborhood formations, specifically teasing out the nuances of “safety” and the contributions of these community formations to the process of gentrification. Roque Ramirez’ article similarly explores these community formations; however; they specifically focus more on the intersection of being queer and Latinx in San Francisco in the late 70s/early 80s, as queer organizers navigate both their racial identity and sexuality. In Flag Wars, we see how Black Americans perceive queer couples moving into the neighborhood, and how they perceive themselves in this process of revitalization.  In thinking about the readings there are a few keywords and concepts that stood out to me; safe spaces, the relationship between queerness, Latinidad, and machismo, and gentrification. I think safe spaces, even within a plethora of contexts that they may exist in, pose the interesting juxtaposition of who is being kept safe and who is the danger. I think it is very interesting that in the development of many of these “gayborhoods,” whiteness has pervaded the sense of who belongs and because of that many queers of color have turned to forming their own spaces. I think back to one of my favorite shows, Pose, in which ballroom culture is highlighted specifically as a tool used by POC queers to form sustainable networks and chosen families. I think this helps further an understanding of safe spaces more so as “place” for typically white gay men, and “space” for queers of color. I also think this has to do with what Roque Ramirez talks about in their article, on how Latine queers navigate both the constructs of Latinidad and queerness, not necessarily fitting or being confined to one. For POC queers, I believe it has been the duplicity of navigating the tensions that come with their racial and sexual identities that have contributed to their own self-understanding and the ways they form community and “safe spaces.”