Full Description
This book examines the representation and misrepresentation of queer people in true crime, addressing their status as both victims and perpetrators in actual crime, as well as how the media portrays them.
The chapters apply an intersectional perspective in examining criminal cases involving LGBTQ people, as well as the true crime media content surrounding the cases. The book illuminates how sexual orientation, gender, race, and other social locations impact the treatment of queer people in the criminal legal system and the mass media. Each chapter describes one or more high-profile criminal cases involving queer people (e.g., the murders of Brandon Teena and Kitty Genovese; serial killer Aileen Wuornos; the Pulse nightclub mass shooting). The authors examine how the cases are portrayed in the media via news, films, podcasts, documentaries, books, social media, and more. Each chapter discusses not only what is visible or emphasized by the media but also what is invisible in the accounting or societal focus surrounding the case. Lesser-known (but similar) cases are used in the book to call attention to how race, gender, sexuality, sexual orientation, social class, and/or other features influence the dominant narrative surrounding these cases. Each chapter addresses "teachable moments" from each case and its coverage, leaving readers with several considerations to take with them into the future.
The book also provides media resources and supplemental materials so that curious readers, including scholars, students, content creators, and advocates, can examine the cases and media content further. The book will appeal to scholars and students of criminology, psychology, sociology, law, media studies, sexuality studies, and cultural studies, and people with an interest in true crime.
Contents
Chapter 1. Introduction: Toward a Critical Examination of LGBTQ+ True Crime
by Danielle Slakoff, Carrie Buist, and Abbie E. Goldberg
LGBTQ People as Perpetrators
Chapter 2. Luck Be a Lady: Misrepresentations of Lesbian Serial Killers in the Media
by Stacie Merken, Ph.D., and Lauren Moton, M. S.
Chapter 3. Mediated Representations and 'Missing' Representations of Queer Male Serial Killers
by Brian J. Frederick, Ph.D
Chapter 4. Crimes of Duplicity: The Dangers of Demonizing Bisexuality
by Jason A. Brown, Brandon Golob, PhD, and Bruno Araujo
Chapter 5. Monsters with Mommy Issues: How Hollywood Invented the "Terroristic Tranny"
by Emily Lenning, PhD. and Xavier Guadalupe-Diaz, PhD
LGBTQ People as Victims
Chapter 6. The Jenny Jones Show and the Gay Panic Defense in the 1990s,
W. Carsten Andresen, PhD.
Chapter 7. Criminalizing Sexual Identities: Queer, Female, and Wrongfully Convicted
Valena Beety, JD
Chapter 8. Public Memory, LGBTQ (In)Visibility and Anti-Gay Violence: A Frame Analysis of Media Discourse on the Murder of Matthew Shepard 25 Years Later
by Jordan Blair Woods, JD
Chapter 9: The Hauntings of Kitty Genovese: The Bystander Effect and Queer Invisibility
by Shanna N. Felix, PhD, and Merideth Garcia, PhD
Chapter 10: Trans Panic: The Representation of Trans Women as Murder Victims in True Crime Podcasts
Christina DeJong, Max Osborn, PhD and Harnoor Kaur
Chapter 11: Difficult, Deceptive, and Dangerous: Portrayals of Victimized Transgender Men in Crime News Coverage
by Max Osborn, PhD
Chapter 12: LGBTQ Youth: Homophobic Bullying and Gender Expression
by Jean-Anne Sutherland, PhD
Beyond the Victim vs. Offender Divide: Relational Complexities, Context, and Community
Chapter 13: The Fallacy of the 'Lesbian Wolf Pack' Narrative: Intersectional Complexities among LGBTQ Individuals of Color in the New Jersey Four Case
by Carrie Teresa, PhD and Dana Radatz, PhD
Chapter 14: Media Representation of Intimate Partner Violence among Queer Communities
by Nicole Johnson, PhD and Autumn Bermea, PhD
Chapter 15: LGBTQ Parents and Filicide: Focus on the Hart Family Murders
by Abbie E. Goldberg, PhD
Chapter 16: Discriminatory Laws and Biased Media: Considering the Harm to the LGBTQ Community
by Adrian Copeland, JD, LaQuana Askew, and Carrie Buist, PhD
Chapter 17: Hate Crimes, Mass Shootings, and The Pulse Night Club Massacre
by Autumn Bermea, PhD
Chapter 18: ICE(D) Out: Exploration of Media Coverage of the Death and Mistreatment of Trans Women in ICE Detention Facilities
by April Carrillo, PhD
Chapter 19: Conclusion by Carrie Buist, Danielle Slakoff, and Abbie Goldberg
