Supporting Indigenous Expressions of Gender Fluidity and Sexual Diversity Through ICT: An Examination of Two-Spirit Web Pages

Websites are one of the most prolific forms of information and communication technology (ICT). Yet, their potential to contribute to the development of oppressed groups and marginalized populations remains largely understudied. The ICT for development literature often uses simplistic views of identity that ignore the diversity of human experiences arising from the interconnectedness of ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender. These aspects of identity are interconnected, and ignoring their intersection disregards compounding inequalities contended by sexual and gender minorities who are also ethnic minorities. Motivated by this research gap, this study analyzes 33 Two-Spirit web pages to further our understanding of how websites can contribute to the development of Two-Spirit communities. Two-Spirit is a modern term that recognizes expressions of gender fluidity and sexual diversity advanced by Indigenous Peoples in North America for centuries. An interpretive approach revealed that websites can support the development of Two-Spirit communities through four affordances: open spaces for activism, life stories telling, initiative impact reporting, and enabling access to resources. This paper contributes to the ICT literature on development by explaining how these affordances coalesce into a visibilization mechanism whereby ICT mediates unconstrained expressions of the Two-Spirit identity free of prejudices and colonial distortion.