Abstract

We explores the meaning of queer safe space by focusing on how LGBTQ youth who are excluded from school discover, experience, and attempt to build a new safe space outside of school. In South Korean society, LGBTQ youth routinely experience hate speech, discrimination, and violence at classroom. They also repeatedly experience hateful reaction from the resources they have access to, such as teachers, counseling programs, and out-of-school youth support systems, and come to the conclusion that they can not trust or rely on the school. Whereas the LGBTQ community outside the school can function as a safe space that provides a sense of belonging and social networks to LGBTQ youth. Accordingly, this study conducts in-depth interview with 25 LGBTQ youth and analyzes their experiences at schools, online and offline LGBTQ communities. Specifically, we analyze how LGBTQ youth experience discrimination and exclusion at school, how they discover various safe spaces outside of school and how these spaces are signified, and what kind of practice they continue to build alternative safe spaces. In conclusion, we reveal that queer safe space is closely related to community building from the perspective of exclusion and belonging, and ultimately argue that overall public areas, including schools, should be reexamined from the perspective of queer safe spaces.