Sexualities and National Identities: Re-imagining Queer Nationalism

This article draws on the literature addressing citizenship, nationalism, feminism and queer politics in order to re-examine the relationship between national identities and sexual minorities in Canada today. In particular, the question of women's place within the constructs of mainstream nationalist discourses and queer nationalism is addressed. Using the concept of “relational positionality,” the article advances a feminist analysis of the Queer Nation movement in order to reconsider the theoretical and political implications of a nationalism grounded in queer experience and to evaluate the extent to which queer nationalism can be “lesbian-friendly.”