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Queering the Map

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Queering the Map
Website logo, which is just the text "Queering the Map"
Type of site
Web mapping
FoundedMay 2017
Country of originCanada
Founder(s)Lucas LaRochelle
URLqueeringthemap.com
Current statusActive

Queering the Map is a community-based online collaborative and counter-mapping platform on which users submit their personal queer experiences to specific locations on a single collective map. Since its inception, users have contributed more than 500,000 posts in 23 languages to the platform.[1]

History

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In 2017, Canadian artist and designer Lucas LaRochelle began working on Queering the Map for a class project at Concordia University in Montreal.[2] The project was launched in May of the same year. LaRochelle has cited the lasting impact of personal memories on their perceptions towards places and Sara Ahmed's ideas on queerness as an orientation towards space as influences behind the project. For LaRochelle, a queer space can be a relational experience created by and/or shared between queer people.[3] LaRochelle has stated that their main intent for initiating the project was to archive these spaces, which transcend the traditional notion of queer spaces as fixed places (like businesses or neighborhoods) that are reclaimed by clearly defined communities.[4]

In February 2018, Montreal DJ Frankie Teardrop shared Queering the Map on Facebook, greatly increasing its visibility.[2] During this month, the number of pins on the map increased from 600 to 6,500 within a three-day span. The same month, a cyberattack generating pins with comments in support of U.S. president Donald Trump forced LaRochelle to take down the site and ask for help on its URL.[4] Over the next two months, 8 volunteers developed a more secure version of the site on GitHub,[2] and the project qualified for Cloudflare's free Project Galileo cybersecurity service. Notably, a moderation system was developed for the platform through this process.[3] In April 2018, Queering the Map was relaunched.[5]

In 2019, LaRochelle began developing QT.bot, an artificial neural network trained to generate hypothetical queer stories using the data submitted to Queering the Map.[6]

Reception

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A 2023 protest sign using Queering the Map screenshots from Gaza.

Queering the Map has received press coverage through media outlets based in Australia,[7] Brazil, [8] Canada, the Czech Republic, [9] France, Spain,[10] Switzerland,[11] the UK and the U.S., including Autostraddle, CBC Arts, CityNews,[12] Condé Nast Traveler, [13] Fugues,[14] Numerama, Paper, rabble.ca,[15] The McGill Daily, The Skinny,[16] VICE, and VOGUE.[17]

In 2023, an article by Reckon reported on LGBTQ Palestinians turning to Queering the Map to share their stories during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.[18]

Accolades

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In 2018, Queering the Map received an honorary mention at the Prix Ars Electronica[19] and was longlisted for the Kantar Information is Beautiful Awards[20] and the Lumen Prize for Digital Art.[21]

Context

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Queering The Map is becoming widely known in the design field and is part of a larger 'queer turn'[22] in design seen in work by designers and design researchers like Ece Canli, Emeline Brulé, Luiza Prado de O. Martins and Tiphaine Kazi-Tani, which has been described as "radical, chaotic and deconstructive."[23]

References

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  1. ^ Oung, Katherine (2023-06-25). "Just Made a Queer Memory? Drop a Pin". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2023-10-27. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
  2. ^ a b c "Queering the Map". Participedia. Archived from the original on 2019-12-09. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  3. ^ a b Singh, Angad. "Queering The Map: A Skype Call With Lucas LaRochelle". Ruthless Magazine. Archived from the original on 2019-12-01. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
  4. ^ a b "Co-Creating a Map of Queer Experience: An interview with Lucas LaRochelle". Immerse. Archived from the original on 2022-09-06. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  5. ^ Echenique, Martín and Alastair Boone. "A Crowdsourced Map of the Queer World". CityLab. Archived from the original on 2019-12-11. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  6. ^ "QT.bot | Lucas LaRochelle". Studio XX. Archived from the original on 2020-05-11. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  7. ^ Gallagher, Allison. "Queering the map: an archive of queer space". Archer Magazine. Archived from the original on 2019-12-12. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  8. ^ Albuquerque, Carlos. "O amor em tempos de GPS". Projeto Colabora. Archived from the original on 2019-12-12. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  9. ^ Kuncová, Hana. ""Nejsi sám, kdo se teď cítí divně." LGBT lidé mají digitální mapu vzpomínek". Český rozhlas. Archived from the original on 2019-12-12. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  10. ^ Garrido, Manu. "El mapa queer que desafía las reglas sociales de sexo y género". Yorokobu. Archived from the original on 2019-12-12. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  11. ^ Gabathuler, Mirja. "Eine Weltkarte der queeren Liebe". SRF. Archived from the original on 2019-12-12. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  12. ^ "Queering the map at Concordia". CityNews Montreal. Archived from the original on 2019-12-12. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  13. ^ Kravitz, Melissa. "This Mapping Tool Collects Queer Sites and Memories". Condé Nast Traveler. Archived from the original on 2019-11-30. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  14. ^ Joanny-Furtin, Michel. "Géolocaliser nos souvenirs queer". Fugues. Archived from the original on 2020-09-25. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  15. ^ Neigh, Scott. "Queering space, both online and off". rabble.ca. Archived from the original on 2019-12-12. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  16. ^ Goh, Katie. "Queering the Map on capturing LGBTQ+ history". The Skinny. Archived from the original on 2022-01-29. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  17. ^ "info". Lucas LaRochelle. Archived from the original on 2023-11-09. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  18. ^ Denny (October 18, 2023). "LGBTQ Palestinians in Gaza are sharing their last words on an online mapping platform". Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  19. ^ "Queering The Map". Prix Ars Electronica 2018. Archived from the original on 2021-01-27. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  20. ^ "Queering The Map". Information is Beautiful Awards. Archived from the original on 2023-08-01. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  21. ^ Rapoport, Carla. "Academics in the Spotlight". Lumen Prize. Archived from the original on 2019-12-12. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  22. ^ Canli, E. Queering design: Material re-configurations of body politics. Archived from the original on 2023-10-31. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  23. ^ Prochner, I. (2021). "Theorizing a queered design and the (im)possibility of design for the common good". Proceedings of the Swiss Design Network Conference.


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