Queer Social Justice as Academic Practice
Jack McKinlay, 3rd Year PhD Education student, reflects on a workshop held at Strathclyde.
The day-long SGSAH workshop ‘Queer Social Justice as Academic Practice’ at the University of Strathclyde, led by Professor Yvette Taylor, opened by discussing how queerness can be out of place within and beyond academic spaces. Yvette highlighted how queer (dis)comfort can be felt daily, from the physicality of hunching over desks to write our queer work, to the hyper-visibility of rainbow lanyards and the ‘Queer Academic Practice’ signage marking the room we inhabited. These acts of queer visibly can simultaneously be affirming and uncomfortable, outing us while also allowing us to claim the space queerly.
This tension between comfort and discomfort set the tone for the day’s events. For me, this undercurrent of queer (dis)comfort shaped the entire event, surfacing across speakers’ reflections, the bodily experience of queer yoga, and the creative expression of a zine-making session. Rather than being an obstacle, (dis)comfort became a mode of engagement, pushing me to (re)think the ways we occupy, navigate, and (re)shape academic and social spaces.
As I listened to Yvette’s opening remarks, I was reminded of my own disabled-queer participants, who spoke about their own experiences of queer-crip (dis)comfort in pushing through and against university structures. Their accounts echoed (dis)comfort through awkwardness, embodiment, and visibility: claiming a queer-crip space can be felt as unsettling but also necessary, whether through stepping into a lecture hall and having others mark you as queer and/or disabled, or getting to classes using an ‘accessible’ route.
The first speaker of the day – Adele Patrick from Glasgow Women’s Library – explored the intersections of queerness and leadership. Drawing from her own experiences within the library, Adele discussed how she actively works to embed queer leadership into her practice. She highlighted the library’s ongoing research into queering leadership, pushing beyond conventional models to imagine queer ways of leading. Queer leadership, as Adele described, can be visionary, disrupting the status quo and carving out new spaces for those who have historically been excluded. Yet, with this comes a particular weight. Adele spoke of how the responsibility of paving new paths can be both empowering and exhausting, generating a complex mix of pride, frustration, and precarity. This emotional weight emphasised again the broader idea of queer (dis)comfort: where transformation and discomfort coexist, shaping both the work itself and the well-being of those undertaking it.
Following this, Kirsty Dunlop and Maria Sledmere delivered a presentation on ‘Queering Authorship’. They explored the practical application of queer methodologies in reading, listening, and responding to research. The session facilitated a crucial reflection on the position of queer researchers and their work within publishing, highlighting the challenges they face, as their scholarship may not sit within normative academic expectations.
After a short break, Tally Kerr led us in a session of queer yoga, a welcome interlude that both relaxed and revitalised us. The yoga session went beyond a simple physical exercise; it became a tangible, embodied exploration of queer (dis)comfort. The session challenged us, both physically and metaphorically, from the deliberate movements of our bodies, to the sometimes curious, questioning glances of passersby observing our yoga poses. We were actively embodying the very concept of queer (dis)comfort. It was a moment of vulnerability and empowerment, a collective experience that simultaneously claimed the physical space as queer as our bodies navigated the physical and mental capabilities of the poses.
Following the yoga session, we transitioned into a creative exploration of zine-making, using this medium to capture the multifaceted experiences of the day. This activity fostered a diverse range of artistic expressions, reflecting the unique perspectives and reflections of each participant. As with a previous Queer Social Justice zine-making workshop at Strathclyde, the resulting zines showcased a range of themes, demonstrating the breadth and depth of our collective engagement. My personal exploration of queer (dis)comfort and others' creations addressing themes of care, gender, nationalism, and race, the zine-making session became powerful testaments to the day's diverse and impactful discussions.
The event culminated in a book launch for ‘Desi Queers: LGBTQ+ South Asians and Cultural Belonging in Britain’. The book, authored by Churnjeet Mahn, Rohit K. Dasgupta, and DJ Ritu, delves into the experiences of queer South Asian individuals navigating life in Britain during the 1970s and 1980s right to present day. Churnjeet spoke about themes around the importance of recovering and amplifying these historical narratives, which are crucial for understanding the complexity of contemporary queer discourse. By shedding light on the struggles, triumphs, and resilience of queer South Asians during a period of significant social and political change, Desi Queers provides valuable context for current conversations about queer identity, belonging, and representation.
As an attendee for the day, a key takeaway was encapsulated in Kirsty and Maria’s presentation where they foregrounded Sara Ahmed’s words: “The more a path is used, the more a path is used”. This idea reinforced that forging a different (queer) way – whether in academia, activism, or everyday life – can be awkward, challenging, and difficult. Yet, at the same time, it is visionary, paving the way for others to follow. This sentiment ultimately brought me full circle to Yvette’s opening discussion of queer (dis)comfort, demonstrating that discomfort and disruption are integral to queer social justice as academic practice.
With thanks to the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities (SGSAH) for funding this Extended Training workshop.
Jack McKinlay is a PhD researcher at the Strathclyde Institute of Education, University of Strathclyde. His research explores disabled-queer student experiences of Scottish higher education, exploring both institutional structures and everyday experiences of university. He explores how disability and queerness intersect and is experienced within academic and peer spaces, shaping students’ place, fit, and participation in university.
Published 17/03/2025
Image by Filmbetrachter from Pixabay