Queering Public Health and Public Policy in the Deep South

Edited by:
Kamden K. Strunk, Auburn University EFLT
Raina Feiszli, Auburn University SERC

A volume in the series: Research in Queer Studies. Editor(s): Hidehiro Endo, Akita International University.

Published 2020

In this volume, authors explore the interconnected issues of public health and public policy as they relate to queer issues in the Deep South. The book begins with a sustained examination of public health, health disparities, and mental health for LGBTQ people in the South. Next, the issues of public policy and public advocacy, including law enforcement, community advocacy and activism, and public life in the Deep South are taken up.

Through the chapters in this text, the peculiarities of public health and public policy for LGBTQ people in the Deep South are explored. However, this volume also points to trends, themes, and dynamics at work in the Deep South that are also implicated in the queer experience in other parts of the U.S. The authors of this text push readers to think deeply about these issues. They clearly highlight the systemic nature of oppression of queer people in the South through institutions of medicine, mental health discourses, the criminal justice system, and public life including Pride and Mardi Gras. Taken together, the authors in this volume call for reform, liberation, and conscientization and queerly envision the future of health and policy in the Deep South.

CONTENTS
Introduction, Kamden K. Strunk. SECTION 1: QUEERING PUBLIC HEALTH, MENTAL HEALTH, AND MEDICINE. Section Introduction: The Need to Understand Oppression in Context: Health Disparities Among LGBTQ People in the Deep South, Sherry Wang. Mental Health and Internalized Heterosexism Among LGBTQ Individuals in the U.S. South, Lisa F. Platt and Shanti M. Pepper. Bon Amis: Resilience Against Suicide for Transgender Communities in Louisiana, Elias Capello. LGBTQ Mental Health Disparities in the Deep South: Trends in Mental Health Discourse and the Lived Experiences of LGBTQ Southerners, Raina Feiszli and Kamden Strunk. Understanding the Historical Context of Traditionally Marginalizing Biblical Passages: Helping LGBTQ Clients Navigate the Intersection of Religion and Sexual Identity, Stacey Diane A. Litam, David Julius Ford Jr., Monica Band, Amanda R. Friday, Tiffanie D. Sutherlin, and Beverly Walker. Coming Out, Competent Care, and Access: Health Care Experiences of Lesbians in the Deep South, Jay A. Irwin and Jason D. Coleman. The Sword and the Staff: Exploring the Intersection of Patriarchy, Race, and Sexuality, David Julius Ford Jr., Christian Chan, Gerry Coffee, Yamonte Cooper, and Don Trahan. SECTION 2: QUEERING PUBLIC POLICY AND ADVOCACY. Kamden K. Strunk. Queerly Growing Sideways in a Carceral State: The Intersections of Queer Lives and the Police State, S. Gavin Weiser, Toniqua Mikell, and Travis L. Wagner. New Orleans and the Drive Against the Deviates, Clayton Delery. Erasing Bisexual Erasure in the Deep South: Research and Advocacy With Bisexual Individuals, Colton Brown and Tonya R. Hammer. Wise as a Serpent and Soft as a Dove: Strategies of LGBT+ Activists in the South, Meredith R. Maroney, Sharon G. Horne, Brianna M. Wadler, and Hannah Emerson. Queering Pride to Center the Voices of People of Color, Bethany M. Coston, CasSandra Calin, and Micky Jordan. The Secret Misters of Joe Cain: Queering Mardi Gras in the Deep South, Amy L. Stone. About the Authors.