QueerCrit: The Intersection of Queerness and the Black-White Binary

Abstract

How queer identity is racialized as normatively white through the black-white binary can be best understood using critical race theory as a framework for analysis. Queerness is racialized through the black-white binary as normatively white in two key ways: (1) as a white or Western phenomenon, imported into non-white communities, and (2) as ideally and normatively white through narrow representation in media pertaining to queer identity. Recognizing the intersection of queerness and the black-white binary of race is critical for understanding the experiences, racialization, and resistance of queer people of color, who navigate the world at a unique and composite intersectionality.