Podcast blurb: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, gender diverse and other emerging sexual identities (LGBTQI+) festivals and events, like pride parades, exemplify spatial politics and community activism. They celebrate LGBTQI+ lives, offering a break from heteronormative norms and a taste of liberation. These events, organised and attended by LGBTQI+ communities, aim to promote societal acceptance, self-expression, connections, and a sense of belonging within the LGBTQI+ population. LGBTQI+ events are in a state of change, mirroring the uneven progress of global civil rights and legal reforms. This aligns with the event lifecycle, representing the evolving socio-cultural narrative. Although these events are strongly associated with protest movements and marches in the Global North during the 1960s and 70s, it's crucial to emphasise that LGBTQI+ rights are still unresolved in global and intersectional contexts.

Oscar’s bio: Dr Oscar Vorobjovas-Pinta is the Course Coordinator for the Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma and Master of Tourism, Environmental & Cultural Heritage, and a Lecturer in Tourism and Society at the School of Social Sciences in the College of Arts, Law and Education. Oscar is a leading expert on LGBTQI+ communities in the context of tourism, events, leisure, and hospitality. His research interests are the sociology of tourism, regional events, tourist behaviour, Antarctic tourism, extending ethnographic and qualitative research methods into tourism research, and technology-enhanced tourism experiences. In 2021, Oscar sole-edited a first-in-fifteen-years book ‘Gay Tourism: New Perspectives’, leading 19 international research collaborators. Oscar is the President of the Australia and New Zealand Association for Leisure Studies (ANZALS) and a Board Director of Visit Northern Tasmania.

Further reading and resources:

Ammaturo, F. R. (2016). Spaces of pride: A visual ethnography of gay pride parades in Italy and the United Kingdom. Social Movement Studies, 15(1), 19-40.

Browne, K. (2007). A party with politics? (Re)making LGBTQ Pride spaces in Dublin and Brighton. Social & Cultural Geography, 8(1), 63-87.

de Jong, A. (2017). Unpacking Pride’s commodification through the encounter. Annals of Tourism Research, 63, 128-139.

Ford, A., & Markwell, K. (2017). Special events and social reform: The case of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade and the Australian marriage equality movement. Event Management, 21(6), 683–695.

Johnston, L. (2007). Mobilizing pride/shame: Lesbians, tourism and parades. Social & Cultural Geography, 8(1), 29-45.

Johnston, L., & Waitt, G. (2015). The spatial politics of gay pride parades and festivals: Emotional activism. - The spatial politics of gay pride parades and festivals: Emotional activism. In D. Paternotte & M. Tremblay (Eds), Companion on Lesbian and Gay Activism (pp. 105-119). Ashgate.

Lamond, I. R. (2018). The challenge of articulating human rights at an LGBT ‘mega-event’: A personal reflection on Sao Paulo Pride 2017. Leisure Studies, 37(1), 36-48.

Lewis, C., & Hermann, U. (2023). ‘The fun you have being what you are’: exploring the role queer people believe Pride plays in two capital cities. Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, 15(2), 140-156.

Lewis, C., & Markwell, K. (2021). Drawing a line in the sand: The social impacts of an LGBTQI+ event in an Australian rural community. Leisure Studies, 40(2), 261-275.

Vorobjovas-Pinta, O. & Fong-Emmerson, M. (2022). The Contemporary Role of Urban LGBTQI+ Festivals and Events. Event Management, 26(8),1801-1816.

Vorobjovas-Pinta, O. & Hardy, A. (2021) Resisting marginalisation and reconstituting space through LGBTQI+ events. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 29(2-3), 448-466.

Vorobjovas-Pinta, O., & Lewis, C. (2021). The coalescence of the LGBTQI+ neo-tribes during the pride events. In C. Pforr, R. Dowling, & Volgger, M. (Eds.), Consumer Tribes in Tourism (pp. 69-81). Springer.