A Str8 Subject in Mayor Milk’s Court: Queer Str8ness and World Making in an LGBTQ Anthology Project

Abstract

This critical autoethnography interrogates the nuances of queer str8 subjectivity and scholarly standpoints by tracing the narrative experiences of the author during a longitudinal queer archival project on late social activist Harvey Milk. Episodes of the author’s journey into the queer archive are interlaced with theoretical discussions of queer str8 theory and considerations of identity reflexivity. Questioning the roles of queer str8s in queer activist scholarship and probing the limitations of cis-straight-identified privilege in a queer archive, in particular, this narrative punctuates the need for cis-straight scholars to engage in an honest and carefully contoured reflection about their roles, ethos, personal place, and social space in queer world making.