Queer Politics, the Gay Bar, and Hapless Victimhood during COVID-19: A Brief Response to Burns (2021) Queerness as/and Political Attunement

Abstract

This article offers a brief response to questions posed in Queerness as/and Political Attunement (Burns, 2021). Here we challenge the notion that discussions of queer oppression during, and beyond, the COVID-19 pandemic inherently denote the queer community as “hapless victims.” Further, questions of who queer leisure scholars are writing for and about are considered. Specific attention is given to the role of “mainstream” queer spaces in processes of assimilation and transgression through discussions on the continued role these spaces play in queer lives and queer futures and the need for continued examination of queer spaces in leisure scholarship.

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• mainstream
• oppression
• queer
• space
• victimhood