Heteronormatividad y espacio público: un análisis sobre la población LGBTIQ+ y el espacio público en la ciudad de Cuenca en el año 2022

Abstract

The objective of this degree work is to understand the relationship between experiences in public spaces and the right to the city of the LGBTIQ+ population in the city of Cuenca. In this line, we analyzed the experiences, conceptions and factors that intervene in the use of public spaces by LGBTIQ+ people that led us to investigate how heteronormativity is established in public spaces. The research has a qualitative approach, its scope is descriptive and explanatory, the techniques for data collection were semi-structured interviews and nonparticipant observation, a type of snowball sampling was carried out and Atlas.ti was used in the processing. The results obtained show how heteronormativity determines the use and enjoyment of the LGBTIQ+ population within public spaces, due to the existence of a sociocultural construction that establishes heterosexuality as the correct way of being and inhabiting the different spaces within Cuenca. From analyzing the experiences and conceptions that this population has, we have identified acts of discrimination and different forms of violence that occur towards these people. Faced with this, the LGBTIQ+ population has taken strategies to avoid these situations, which consist of limiting their expression, use and enjoyment within these spaces, as well as generating spaces of struggle to exercise and access rights. It is within this framework that the experiences of the population and their right to the city are developed.