“If I Were Given the Opportunity in Today's World at 18 to Go Be in a Seedy, Dirty Gay Bar to Meet Community, I Would”: Informational Functions, Loss, and Transformation of Queer Spaces

ABSTRACT This study examines the informational functions of queer spaces and how their spatial characteristics influence the accessibility, flow, and sustainability of information. Using semi‐structured interviews with 15 US queer adults who experienced the loss of a queer‐focused information space, our analysis furthers information science theorizing by examining these spaces through the lenses of information grounds, small worlds, and boundary publics. Findings reveal that queer spaces are vital sites for identity work, community support, and information circulation. Information grounds serve as accessible, queer‐adjacent entry points; small worlds foster queer information literacy but may reproduce exclusion; and boundary publics offer hybrid, adaptive alternatives when other spaces become inaccessible. We find recurring patterns of spatial vulnerability, insider/outsider dynamics, and the centrality of information to queer visibility. We contend that designing sustainable queer information environments in the face of platform regulation, gentrification, and sociopolitical hostility, lends insight into the embodied and relational dimensions of queer spatial practice.