Queer Externalities by W. C. Harris

Queer lives are increasingly visible in American media, from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Brokeback Mountain to gay young adult novels and the outing of prominent Republicans. W. C. Harris asks how this mainstreaming affects radical queer activism, arguing that it may have as many negative effects as positive ones for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Building on Eve Sedgwick, David Halperin, Michael Warner and Wendy Brown, he examines the side effects of assimilation and argues for a reinvigorated queer essentialism to claim a separate political space.