Working-Class LGBTQ+ Representation in British Cinema

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Rights granted to same-sex couples across Britain and much of the Western world in recent years focus on the conservative values of family and (inheritable) finances, primarily benefitting those most socio-economically privileged and normative on the LGBTQ+ spectrum and somewhat neglecting the most vulnerable LGBTQ+ subjects. Identities and lifestyles are normalized or demonized to suit agendas, social and political. Beyond gender and sexuality, the needs of people on the margins are often relegated in favour of the mainstream/privileged (think: Grenfell Tower). Why, then, is this project concerned with LGBTQ+ working-class representation? Because the screen does not just provide entertainment, but is also a significant socio-political tool to inform and influence opinion about identity, our own and how we view others. While there is an increase in positive gay representation, in keeping with aforementioned changes, other subjects on the LGBTQ+ spectrum and the working-class are often demonised or patronised. This timely project builds on my existing research on queer representation and impact arising from this, as a filmmaker and Chair of the Scottish Queer International Film Festival (SQIFF). It will fill three significant gaps in academic research (theoretical; textual analysis; qualitative analysis): creating new theory on queer working-class identities; applying this to read the intersection of working-class and LGBTQ+ identities and lifestyles in British film from 1980; collecting data on working-class LGBTQ+ people's opinions on such representation onscreen.Two publications from this Fellowship, a monograph, Poor Queers: Working-Class LGBTQ+ Representation in British Film from 1980, and a journal article within a special journal issue I will edit, will fill lacunae in queer theory and Film Studies for the first - textual analysis - strand of the project. Since the new millennium, there has been a significant focus on the interface of queer theory and other minority/disadvantaged identities, but work on class/socio-economic position is largely absent. My research will situate queer concepts socio-politically and economically, to create an interdisciplinary theory. I illustrate this through the medium of film to provide the first book-length study on LGBTQ+ and working-class identity on the British screen.The second strand of research comprises a series of workshops at queer film festivals across Britain (Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds, London), in which I gather data from those who identify as LGBTQ+ and working-class about attitudes to onscreen representation and how they are catered to offscreen in arts venues traditionally used by the middle-class and above. This quantitative analysis will form the first study of its kind: a journal article exploring British LGBTQ+ working-class attitudes to filmic representation and inclusion in the arts. The project will, therefore, explore representation and reality, and ensure I develop as a research leader via new knowledge, outputs, and the Queer Screens Research Network that I will continue to grow throughout the Fellowship and beyond. QSRN unites scholars across a range of disciplines with those who curate and make film, via a series of seminars and a conference immediately before SQIFF 2020. Both will have Working-Class Queers as their lead strand and be used as a springboard to launch a Working-Class Film Festival at the end of the Fellowship.In line with my dedication to impacting the world beyond academia and improving attitudes towards and the lived reality of minorities, other non-academic outputs will include a documentary film about queer working-class representation to be screened at film festivals, and best practice documents on working-class representation and inclusion to be employed by film festivals, arts venues, and funding bodies. I will share much of this information freely, within and beyond academia, via a project website.