艾米L. 石头,Ph值.D.

My research has a central theme of belonging and marginalization in the lesbian, 同性恋, 双性恋, 变性人, and queer (LGBTQ) 社区 in the United States with a focus on urban communities. My current research focuses on two major projects: work on urban citizenship in the South and Southwest through the study of festivals and an interdisciplinary team project with Strengthening Colors of Pride SA on the social determinants of health and resilience in the LGBTQ 社区 of 圣安东尼奥.

My first project centers on questions of cultural citizenship and the recognition gap by examining how urban festivals are sites of (mis)recognition and belonging for LGBTQ people in the urban South and Southwest. Sociologist Michèle Lamont asserts that one issue faced by marginalized groups in society is a recognition gap, that the positive social worth of a group is unacknowledged and unrecognized by others. 我开始对大型城市公共节日感兴趣, because these festivals are supposed to be a time when the city comes together to appreciate the diverse contributions of city residents. 在文化得到包容和重视的节日期间, 哪些事件是允许的, and how different communities are represented become socially significant and fraught questions. What began as interest in a 圣安东尼奥 festival event called Cornyation, a mock debutante pageant and political satire put on historically by Anglo and Latino 同性恋 men, 交了一份比较研究报告. I conducted a four-year qualitative study of LGBTQ visibility and involvement in four city festivals—Mardi Gras in Mobile (AL) and Baton Rouge (LA) and Fiesta in Santa Fe (NM) and 圣安东尼奥 (TX). I argue that festivals are embedded with cultural structures or repertoires,包括 strong histories of racial segregation and social closure by social elites, 塑造了LGBTQ社区的知名度. 参与 in these festivals does partially fill the recognition gap for LGBTQ people in these cities, 包括来自文化和政治精英的关注, 是去污名化过程的重要组成部分. 

除了这个独立的项目, I am part of an interdisciplinary research team called Strengthening Colors of Pride to study race, 性别, and resilience among people in the LGBTQ 社区 of 圣安东尼奥, a project funded with a three-year training and research grant by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as part of their culture of health initiative. In this 社区-based participatory research project, I work with Dr. 戴尔医学院(Dell Medical School)的菲利普. Robert Salcido of The Pride Center 圣安东尼奥 to study the multiple levels of resources—personal, 人际关系, 社区, and city resources—that lead to resilience in the LGBTQ 社区 in 圣安东尼奥. We have already collected 900 short surveys and 82 interviews in the LGBTQ 社区 of 圣安东尼奥 about resilience and the social determinants of health in this 社区.

My earlier research focused on movement-countermovement mobilization between the LGBTQ movement and Religious Right around anti-同性恋 ballot measures like California Proposition 8; in my book 投票箱中的同性恋权利, I contributed to the social movements literature on framing and tactical development by analyzing how both movements framed their political messages to the public in ways to persuade voters but also reinforce existing race, 性别, 性别不平等. 最近，我在 社会力量 on the history of anti-同性恋 framing and the development of anti-变性人 frames by the Religious Right over time. I have also conducted smaller projects on social closure in the LGBTQ 社区, particularly inclusion/exclusion of lesbians and 变性人 people in political and social groups.