2.1 INTRODUCTION

Living Heritage

“Living Heritage can be characterized by the continuity of community connections and their cultural expressions, both tangible and intangible” (Wijesuriya, 2013). However, in this process of continuity, less attention has been given to the role of marginalized communities such as Queer and Diasporic communities.

In Sheffield, Gut Level is a Queer DIY organization that is part of a broader ecosystem of a “DIY Culture” movement, whose ethos is based on a “do it by yourself” spirit, self-agencies, and community cooperation.

Their connections, both emotional and social, are rooted in the celebration of collective joy and the transformation of their spaces into “Queer Utopias”, collective imagery that celebrates their multiple identities and subjectivities. Gut Level defines itself as a “DIY event space and collective that focuses on dance music, club culture, and the surrounding communities” (Gut Level, 2022).

Therefore, the dance floor becomes the metaphor in which those Queer Utopias are spatialized and those connections take place, both in the digital and physical realm and from the desire of building a sense of home collectively, to making a space for their desires in the city. In this context, Gut Level challenges the narratives of the heteropatriarchal design from their pop-up occupations in a broader DIY network of Sheffield, from the “home” up to the city scale.

Nevertheless, as a Queer organization, those Utopias and connections have also been challenged by the different forces that interact with them. From the secure tenure instability of their physical space up to the lack of inclusive spaces and resources that recognize their ethos and multiple identities in Sheffield that are grounded in traditional urban narratives.

In this context, the notion of safety becomes central to maintaining and enhancing their connections and joyful spaces, centering the question of whose safety? and which safety? We asked ourselves:

How the narratives of safety from the institutional and urban realm is threatening the continuity of the Queer connections and celebration of joy in Sheffield?

Ultimately, we sought to understand how to foster the continuity of the Queer Living Heritage from the creation of a sense of safety departing from the individual and collective realm (the home) up to the urban scale (the city) experience.

With that in mind, this research will explore the notion of safety from the Queer communities’ experiences departing from their individual stories, their collective perspectives, and how those constructions are negotiated with the institutional and urban narratives of Sheffield.

In this context, we proposed the hypothesis that safety is grounded in the community connections, both from its emotional and agency realm.