Paper long abstract:

When I started researching LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) issues in Central Asia in 2007, the topic was met with considerable skepticism. However, by 2015, the field of Central Asian Studies was eager for information concerning LGBT populations, particularly in the wake of gay propaganda bills put forward in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. While considerable research has been done on LGBT populations in Kyrgyzstan through non-governmental organizations (NGOs), little of this research is published for academic audiences. Furthermore, little research has been done at all on the other countries of Central Asia. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, it reviews the trends in the study of LGBT populations, and second addresses the applicability of queer theory in Central Asian Studies. Queer theory and the practice of "queering" challenge social norms and invite the reading of history and the present from multiple perspectives. While often associated with LGBT studies, queer theory can be applied more broadly than simply examining LGBT issues or populations and provides a useful analytic to issues such as gender, sexuality, and marginalized populations. Here I ask both why study LGBT populations in Central Asia and what does queer theory, in its broadest applications, have to offer Central Asian Studies? From pioneering literature by Cai Wilkinson and Anna Kirey to recent publication by Marc von Boemcken, Hafiz Boboyorov, and Nina Bagdasarova, LGBT and queer studies have shed light on multiple aspects of life in Central Asia, including political organizing (Wilkinson and Kirey 2010; Kirey 2011; Wilkinson 2014), nationalism (Buelow 2012, 2017), and safety strategies for marginalized communities (Wilkinson and Kirey 2010; Boemcken, Boboyorov, and Bagdasarova 2018). Finally, I ask audience members to reflect on how queer theory might influence their own studies.