Main description:

In this volume, authors explore the interconnected issues of public health and public policy as they relate to queer issues in the Deep South. The book begins with a sustained examination of public health, health disparities, and mental health for LGBTQ people in the South. Next, the issues of public policy and public advocacy, including law enforcement, community advocacy and activism, and public life in the Deep South are taken up. Through the chapters in this text, the peculiarities of public health and public policy for LGBTQ people in the Deep South are explored.

However, this volume also points to trends, themes, and dynamics at work in the Deep South that are also implicated in the queer experience in other parts of the U.S. The authors of this text push readers to think deeply about these issues. They clearly highlight the systemic nature of oppression of queer people in the South through institutions of medicine, mental health discourses, the criminal justice system, and public life including Pride and Mardi Gras. Taken together, the authors in this volume call for reform, liberation, and conscientization and queerly envision the future of health and policy in the Deep South.

Contents:

Introduction
SECTION 1: QUEERING PUBLIC HEALTH, MENTAL HEALTH, AND MEDICINE
Section Introduction: The Need to Understand Oppression in Context: Health Disparities Among LGBTQ People in the Deep South
Mental Health and Internalized Heterosexism Among LGBTQ Individuals in the U.S. South
Bon Amis: Resilience Against Suicide for Transgender Communities in Louisiana
LGBTQ Mental Health Disparities in the Deep South: Trends in Mental Health Discourse and the Lived Experiences of LGBTQ Southerners
Understanding the Historical Context of Traditionally Marginalizing Biblical Passages: Helping LGBTQ Clients Navigate the Intersection of Religion and Sexual Identity
Coming Out, Competent Care, and Access: Health Care Experiences of Lesbians in the Deep South
The Sword and the Staff: Exploring the Intersection of Patriarchy, Race, and Sexuality
SECTION 2: QUEERING PUBLIC POLICY AND ADVOCACY
Queerly Growing Sideways in a Carceral State: The Intersections of Queer Lives and the Police State
New Orleans and the Drive Against the Deviates
Erasing Bisexual Erasure in the Deep South: Research and Advocacy With Bisexual Individuals
Wise as a Serpent and Soft as a Dove: Strategies of LGBT+ Activists in the South
Queering Pride to Center the Voices of People of Color
The Secret Misters of Joe Cain: Queering Mardi Gras in the Deep South
About the Authors