ABSTRACT

While significant attention has been paid to the experiences of queer athletes and sport participants, comparatively little work has explored queer sport fans’ leisure experiences in sport stadiums. Focusing on professional men’s hockey fandom, this empirical study asks: what are the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and two-spirit (LGBTQ2S+) spectators at National Hockey League games in Canada? Interviews with 24 diversely identified queer spectators reveal significant variation in experiences, from positive to neutral to negative, and a welcome lack of virulent or aggressive homophobia and transphobia. Most queer spectators perceive the arena space as heteronormative, which often results in feelings of non-belonging. Using de Certeau’s theorisation of tactics, this paper explores how queer spectators modify their behaviour – including minimising and maximising queer visibility – to smoothly navigate the heteronormative arena space. This paper contributes to understandings of homophobia and queer belonging in leisure spaces.

摘要

虽然对酷儿运动员和体育参与者的体验给予了极大的关注，但对酷儿体育迷在体育场馆的休闲体验进行探索的工作相对较少。本实证研究关注职业男子冰球爱好者，提出以下问题：在加拿大全国冰球联盟比赛中，女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋、跨性别、酷儿和双性恋 (LGBTQ2S+) 观众的经历是什么？对 24 位不同身份的酷儿观众的采访揭示了经历的显着差异，从正面到中性到负面，并且普遍缺乏致命或攻击性的同性恋恐惧症和跨性别恐惧症。大多数酷儿观众认为竞技场空间是异性恋，这通常会导致非归属感。使用 de Certeau 的战术理论，本文探讨了酷儿观众如何改变他们的行为——包括最小化和最大化酷儿的可见度——以顺利导航异性规范的舞台空间。本文有助于理解休闲空间中的同性恋恐惧症和酷儿归属感。