Queer relational autonomy and technology

Abstract Many queer people face substantial challenges in developing, maintaining, and deepening social relationships with other queer people. Political oppression and social exclusion, as well as minority stress and other psychological factors, limit their opportunities to connect. In this paper, we investigate the connection between queer communities, their relational strategies to cope with minority stress, and the role of social media from a relational autonomy perspective. Relational autonomy, as a feminist alternative to individualistic autonomy conceptions, maintains that the social embeddedness and relationships of individuals are a key condition for an individual’s autonomy. In analyzing relational strategies and the relevance of social media as a new space for connecting with others, normative demands on “digital safe spaces” for queer communities can be legitimately justified within the relational autonomy framework. We conclude with an assessment of the vulnerabilities of queer communities based on relational autonomy and the shifting socio-digital context in which we operate.