Transnational queer cultures and digital media: an introduction

Abstract

Queer cultures have long been transnational and in times of rapid technological advancements, large migration flows, and intense cross-cultural exchanges, queer connections are evolving in new forms and meanings. These developments occur at the intersection of various intertwined geopolitical scales: urban, regional, national, continental, and global, as well as physical and digital. This introduction synthesizes various theoretical and methodological discussions to highlight the ambivalences of contemporary queer cultures, focusing on their intrinsic transnational and digital conditions. The authors contributing to this issue demonstrate that understanding queer cultures in the digital age requires examining the roles of various actors, including big tech employees, online platform volunteers, queer influencers, audiences, and migrants. They also highlight how queer digital cultures transcend national borders and challenge oppositional binaries, such as local vs. global and the West vs. the Rest, all while maintaining a critical perspective on the ambivalences of digitality.