Hello! My name is Sierra and I am currently working on my MA project, a 26 page research endeavor (ha, it sounds fancier now) that I want to write, focusing on the invisibility of "liminal" MOGAI/ queer folks** in Gay and Lesbian YA (trans, bi, intersex). If you would like to help me out, please keep reading!
My project will examine the intersections of erasure found in young adult literature (YA lit) about MOGAI (marginalized orientations, genders allignments, and intersex) individuals. The project with aim to do # things: identify the erasure and exclusion in the LGBT community; the need for the emergence of the term MOGAI; and the way in which traditionally "liminal" MOGAI identities are erased in YA lit because of the system of publishing categorization, a system which was created with the historically exclusionary category of “gay and lesbian fiction.”
That being said! Because the paper is not very long, nor do I have a crapton of resources, I'm only going to be examining a few identities in YA lit. I'm planning on focusing on bi (my identity, therefore I feel most comfortable with it), trans (because the intersection of bi ladies and trans ladies cannot be ignored), and intersex.
I'm planning on using the Inheritance series by Malinda Lo to spotlight on bi ladies, Micah Grey series to spotlight intersex, and am looking for a ya book with a trans protagonist published by either a big ten publisher, or a mainstream (mass marketed) publisher. If you know a book or series that fits this description, please let me know!
Also, if you notice anything that seems squicky or problematic about my project, please please please let me know! I am not perfect, and I am trying my best to merge social activism with academia because academia needs less cis straight white people talking about the (cis straight white) human condition.
**I'm using the term "liminal MOGAI/ liminal queer folks" specifically to talk about the way in which identities which exist outside binaries (straight/gay, male/female gender, male/female sex) are automatically less visible, because they are appropriated by those who fall into those binaries, either purposefully or not. If you think this phrase could be changed, or is still problematic, please let me know! I plan on explaining how, despite being perceived as "liminal", the identities are not liminal, because liminality assumes a binary, but explaining how that perception of liminality leads to erasure.
