Minoritized Languages that Matter : Drag Assemblages at Queer Festivals in Galicia and Catalonia

Abstract This paper draws on queer linguistics, with a focus on drag performances, to explore the intersection of language, gender, and sexuality in sociolinguistically minoritized communities. Although queer and drag linguistics have been examined over the past two decades, the intersection of conflicted, minoritized languages and LGBTQ+ issues remains understudied. Ethnographic research into rural and urban queer festivals in Galicia and Catalonia (both bilingual, stateless nations in Spain) reveals certain trends connecting language minoritization and revitalization to queerness. Multilingual and multimodal drag practices at these events indicate post-identity and post-national approaches to ethnolinguistic belonging that parody purism, masculine nationalistic references, and linguistic oppression by the hegemonic language (in this case, Spanish). In these performances, the bodies and voices of the queens and kings drag the nation and offer new meanings to what Galician and Catalan represent for their speakers, who gather at queer events to negotiate both their gender and sociolinguistic identities. Ultimately, this analysis sheds light on the broader, more pressing issue of how language ideologies operate within queer collectives and events, where sociolinguistic minoritization can be experienced, reinforced, and subverted, and where new forms of queer language advocacy can emerge.