2.8
CONCLUSIONS
Queer Geographies continuity of the Queer Living Heritage of Sheffield, it is also important to address that this process required to start with and against the state. In the entanglement of the economic and industrial deprivation, and the spread of non-inclusive spaces, self-agencies needs to be recognized but also to keep flowing organically, as the DIY ethos.
This research departs from exploring the notion of safety from the Queer communities’ experiences including their individual stories, their collective perspectives, and how those constructions are negotiated with the institutional narratives of Sheffield. In that sense, we understood that Living Heritage narratives also entail processes of continuous recognition in which the question of which safety, and whose safety required to be centralized.
What now? Further research is required to understand Queer geographies from the particular situations of their collectives, considering that as stated by Finn (2022), inside the Queer and LGQTB collectives there are also nuances and particularities that should be acknowledged when considering interventions. In this way, we believe in that the ecosystem of safety in the city is the celebration of joy and imagination of Queer collectives.
On the other hand, the research proposal has also revealed the potential of the so-called spatial agencies and the co-creation of imaginary spaces from the Queer communities, challenging the current narratives of the city around what does it mean to be safe? As a result of the analysis, we concluded that constructing “safe spaces” are grounded in the intersectional, day and night, collective, digital & physical, and above all centralized desire to build-up a sense of community together. Even though the proposal “Queering the city from the “Home” build-up an starting point of recognition of the
I fell in love with an octopus. I felt in love in the dance floor. In the beggining, it doesn't feel like being safe, being indoors, enclosured by the fences of this industrial space. However, when we crossed the borders, we recognized more octopus dancing and loving each other in a beautiful and endless garden, this was the moment when we feel safe. Being together outside is feeling safe”
HOME Fig 34. Summary Diagram (Source: Authors)
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