The History of Queer Theory

By Brandon Jobst
  • Period: to

    Post-Structuralism

    Emerged in France. Is the precursor to Queer Theory.

  • Stonewall Inn

    A police raid at the Stonewall Inn in New York City in 1969 ignited demonstrations.

  • Drag Culture

    Esther Newton's "Mother Camp: Female Impersonators in America" uses the term "drag queen" to describe a “homosexual male who often, or habitually, dresses in female attire.”

  • Sexuality is a Social Construct

    Michel Foucalt's "The History of Sexuality" saying posited that politics generally rely on hierarchies of desire as a means of oppression.

  • Teresa de Lauretis

    She organized the first queer theory conference.
  • Period: to

    "Queer"

    Reclaimed as an umbrella term for those who don't identify with heteronormativity.

  • Sexual Behavior Hierarchy

    Gayle Rubin's "Thinking Sex" examines how certain sexual behaviors serve as the basis of marginalization and oppression.

  • ACT UP

    Larry Kramer, Vito Russo, and others founded the direct-action group AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power to demand public acknowledgement of the AIDS epidemic.

  • Sex and Gender as Performance

    Judith Butler's "Gender Trouble" suggests that sex and gender are performative elements of identity.

  • The Gendering of Sexuality

    Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's "Epistemology of the Closet" explored how society genders sexuality.

  • Queer Nation

    Queer Nation was founded in 1990 to fight the escalating violence and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.

  • "Queer Theory"

    Teresa de Lauretis' "Queer Theory: Lesbian and Gay Sexualities" coined the term "queer theory."

  • Same-Sex Marriage

    Same-sex marriage is legalized in the United States.