LGBTphobia as a multiscale assemblage: Rural LBT women’s everyday geographies

This article examines LGBTphobia as experienced by lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LBT) women in Israeli rural space. Conceptualized here as a multiscale assemblage, five manifestations of LGBTphobia are presented: (1) Whispering, giggling and gossip; (2) insults related to sexual and gender identity; (3) discrimination and exclusion; (4) intrusion, sexualization, and eroticization; and (5) Condescension and boundary construction. Although neoliberal discourses often assume that LGBTQ + acceptance has become increasingly widespread, particularly in urban settings, this analysis demonstrates that inclusion does not eliminate LGBTphobia. Rather, inclusion and LGBTphobia coexist, with narratives of progress and acceptance frequently obscuring more subtle yet persistent forms of exclusion, marginalization, and prejudice. Relatedly, whereas recent scholarship suggests that rural areas may serve as spaces of tolerance and safety for LGBTQ + s thanks to the diffusion of urban discourses of acceptance into rural contexts, the findings show how LGBTphobia becomes internalized, embodied, and affectively reproduced in everyday life. Among LBT women interviewed, the anticipation of LGBTphobia prompted self-censorship even before any overt incidents occurred. These dynamics reveal LGBTphobia as an embodied and spatial structure rather than a solely interpersonal phenomenon, continuing to shape participants’ everyday rural lives despite apparent social progress.