Abstract

This chapter explores how consumerism has shaped LGBTQ life and politics from the early twentieth century to the present. It traces how acts, objects, and spaces of queer consumption played a central role in consolidating LGBTQ identities and communities, and provoked many of the earliest legal battles for gay and lesbian rights. At the same time, it argues, consumerism has frequently functioned to reify gender, racial, and class divides among LGBTQ people, posing new challenges for ongoing political activism.