The Lavender Languages and Linguistics Conference is an international conference for LGBT linguistics and other related queer language research and discourse studies. It provides a place for emerging queer linguistics scholarship. The conference is the longest continually running LGBT studies conference in the US.

In 2017 the conference expanded to a Summer Institute with 10 days of class discussion, research opportunities and informal conversations exploring topics of current interest in language and sexuality studies, queer linguistics, and various lavender language themes.

History

The Lavender Languages and Linguistics Conference was founded in 1993 by William Leap to coincide with the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation. At the time, research on these topics was considered marginal within linguistics, and the conference was a key place for researchers to come together to discuss issues in the field. By the 20th conference, there were over 80 presentations and 150 attendees. The conference was host yearly at American University in Washington, DC until 2017 when the conference began to move each year.

A meta-synthesis of conference abstracts by Paul Baker and published in Milani's chapter in The Oxford Handbook of Language and Society found early work presented at the conference focused on the existence of "gay language" such as Polari and "lesbian language". In line with the trajectory of the field, more recent work has focused on how various linguistic features index different identities.

The Journal of Language and Sexuality (though not officially linked to LavLang) is closely affiliated with the conference. It was an established venue to publish queer linguistics research.

Conferences NumberYearDateHost UniversityCityCountryWebsiteNotes1st1993April American UniversityWashington, D.C.United States2nd1994American UniversityWashington, D.C.United States3rd1995American UniversityWashington, D.C.United States4th1996SeptemberAmerican UniversityWashington, D.C.United StatesKeynote speakers: Ellen Lewin, Charles Nero, Deborah Tannen, Riki Ann Wilchins5th1997American UniversityWashington, D.C.United States6th1998American UniversityWashington, D.C.United States7th1999American UniversityWashington, D.C.United States8th2000American UniversityWashington, D.C.United States9th2002FebruaryAmerican UniversityWashington, D.C.United States11th2003American UniversityWashington, D.C.United States12th2004American UniversityWashington, D.C.United States13th2005American UniversityWashington, D.C.United States14th2006American UniversityWashington, D.C.United States15th2008American UniversityWashington, D.C.United States16th2009FebruaryAmerican UniversityWashington, D.C.United StatesPlenaries: Aren Aizura and Mary Weismantel17th2010AprilAmerican UniversityWashington, D.C.United StatesPlenaries/Special Presentations: Gibran Guido, Ellen Lewin, Andrew Tucker18th2011FebruaryAmerican UniversityWashington, D.C.United StatesPlenaries: Scott Kiesling, Carlos Decena, Sharif Mowlabocus19th2012FebruaryAmerican UniversityWashington, D.C.United StatesSpecial Events:

Reporting and Writing Queer Temporalities (Panel discussion) Voices from a Chorus(featuring Paula Bresnan Gibson) 1 Girl, 5 Gays and LGBTQ Discourses in School Settings (featuring Philip Tetro) A Reading from “The Bar Notebook” (featuring Bonnie Morris)20th2013FebruaryAmerican UniversityWashington, D.C.United StatesSpecial Events:

Master Class with Tom Boellstorff 20th Annual Conference Reception with AU Pride21st2014FebruaryAmerican UniversityWashington, D.C.United StatesSpecial Events:

Critical Discourse Analysis Workshop with David Peterson Premier of Reinterpreting Bukovac (A Documentary Film) “American Orientation: Interpellation of the Gay Male Subject in Literary Narratives in Taiwan” with Ta-Wei Chi22nd2015FebruaryAmerican UniversityWashington, D.C.United StatesPlenary: Rusty Barrett23nd2016FebruaryAmerican UniversityWashington, D.C.United States24th2017AprilUniversity of NottinghamNottinghamUnited KingdomKeynote speakers: Dr Helen Sauntson, York St John University (UK) and Professor Paul Baker, Lancaster University (UK).25th2018AprilRhode Island CollegeProvidence, Rhode IslandUnited StatesKeynote speakers: Mie Hiramoto (National University of Singapore) Margot Weiss (Wesleyan University) and Lal Zimman (University of California, Santa Barbara).26th2019MayUniversity of GothenburgGothenburgSwedenKeynote Speakers: Erika Alm, University of Gothenburg, Sweden Mons Bissenbakker, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, Rodrigo Borba, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Holly Cashman, University of New Hampshire, USA, Thabo Msibi, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa27th2021MayCalifornia Institute of Integral StudiesSan FranciscoUnited StatesKeynote speakers: Jack Halberstam, Columbia University and Elizabeth Freeman, University of California at Davis

Originally planned to be hosted in 2020 in San Francisco at California Institute of Integral Studies, the conference was postpoponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and eventually moved to an online format in 2021. 28th2022MayUniversity of CataniaCataniaItalyKeynote speakers: J Calder, Adriana Di Stefano, Busi Makoni, Pietro Maturi, Tommaso M. Milani, Eva Nossem29th2023MarchBoise State UniversityBoiseUnited StatesKeynote speakers: Nikki Lane, Luhui Whitebear, and a Plenary Roundtable "Lavender Languages Past, Present, and Future"30th2024AugustUniversity of BrightonBrightonEnglandKeynote Speakers: William Leap, Jenny Davis, Veronika Koller31st2025AugustManchester Metropolitan UniversityManchesterEnglandKeynote Speakers: Heiko Motschenbacher, Federica Formato, Lucy Jones, Kat Gupta, Alon Lischinsky32nd2026SeptemberThe University of EdinburghEdinburghScotlandKeynote Speakers: Erez Levon, Nikki Lane, Stamatina Katsiveli, Kevin Guyan, Eddy Ungless

Lavender Languages Summer Institute The Lavender Language Institute, a summer program that Leap founded at Florida Atlantic University in 2017, offers training in queer linguistics to undergraduates, grad students, and others interested in language and sexuality studies. NumberYearDateHost UniversityCityStateNotes1st2018JuneFlorida Atlantic UniversityBoca RatonFlorida2nd2019JuneFlorida Atlantic UniversityBoca RatonFlorida3rd2021JuneFlorida Atlantic UniversityOriginally planned to be hosted in 2020 in person at Florida Atlantic University the conference was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and eventually moved to an online format in 2021. 4th2022JuneFlorida Atlantic University 5th2023JuneFlorida Atlantic University6th2024JuneCalifornia Institute of Integral Studies8th2026JuneCalifornia Institute of Integral Studies

External links

https://www.facebook.com/lavlang https://twitter.com/lavlang?lang=en https://twitter.com/LavenderLangFAU https://www.fau.edu/artsandletters/lavender-languages/

References