May 14, 2021

Shared social and socializing spaces remain critical sites of validation for sexual and gender identities. Who is permitted through the door and which bodies are taken into consideration of site specific design and instrumentation informs their legibility and subsequent legitimization. These constituting dynamics are even more imperative for non-hetero and/or non-cis communities whom the public realm often interpellates through violent surveillance practices and normative enforcements. Drawing on data from interviews with attendees and facilitators, I argue that the queer sex party (QSP) offers a creative environment through which non-conforming sexual subjects may find not only needed refuge but spatial opportunities to be made visible, acknowledged, and validated, both within and beyond its borders. I conclude by noting that while providing for productive inclusions, queer sex parties simultaneous create space for the reproduction of social inequalities as well.