SEXTANT: masculinities, sexualities & decolonialities

ABSTRACT

The perception that LGBTQ+ identities posed a threat to the moral and familial codes of the nation throughout the Troubles in Northern Ireland is seldom considered. These sexual and gendered depictions reinforce gender divides in ethno-nationalist communities, which play a prominent role in perpetuating the defence of ethnic boundaries and ‘Othering’ those deemed unworthy of ethno-nationalist identity. Leveraging queer and feminist methods, this qualitative research includes interviews conducted in Northern Ireland during six weeks of fieldwork in Spring 2023. Drawing on the works of Foucault, this article argues that power operates in relation to the surveillance of masculine and queer performativity and is legitimised vis-à-vis Othering mechanisms. In so doing, this article demonstrates the hidden endogeneity of how masculinities within paramilitary groups were intertwined with the marginalisation of LGBTQ+ individuals during the Troubles. Herein, this article reveals the penetrating influence of paramilitary groups as catalysts of societal policing of queer lives during the Troubles.

KEY WOrDS

masculinities; LGBTQ+; Othering; surveillance; paramilitary; ethno-nationalism

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.