"The more South you go, the more frankly you can speak": Metronormativity, Critical Regionality and the LGBT Movement in Salento, South-Eastern Italy

Abstract

In recent times, the region of Salento in South-Eastern Italy, has becomeone of the most popular gay-friendly touristic spots in the country andseveral LGBT organisation operate in this territory since the last few years.This article seeks to map creation, development and challenges of theLGBT movement in this Italian sub-region by looking at forms ofnegotiation between "local" and "queer" identities and beyond narratives of“metronormativity” of LGBT identities (Halberstam 2005) and from theperspective of ‘critical regionality’ (Gopinath 2007; Binnie 2016) and‘meridian thought’ (Cassano 2001). Through semi-structured interviewsconducted with four local LGBT activists in 2016 and ethnographicobservations carried out at Pride events in 2016 and 2017, the article looksat conflicting social processes whereby local activism is rooted in situatedallegiances and interactions with the territory and its population, whilstbeing permeated by globalising dynamics of LGBT identity politics.http://mc.© 2018, The Author(s), published by SAGE. This is an author produced version of a paper published in CURRENT SOCIOLOGY uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self- archiving policy. The final published version (version of record) is available online at the link below. Some minor differences between this version and the final published version may remain. We suggest you refer to the final published version should you wish to cite from it