A Theater of Heteropatriarchy: Black Sexuality in Legal Discourse

• In Event: 20214 - Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies

Abstract

This paper examines how the courtroom functions as a site where heteropatriarchal relations are both reinforced and contested when confronting Black queer sexuality. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork during the 2024 murder trial following the disappearance of Jimmie "Jay" Lee, a Black queer college student in Mississippi, I analyze how legal discourse constructs, maintains, and occasionally disrupts racial and sexual hierarchies. Building on Ferguson's (2004) work on heteropatriarchal relations in racial formations, I demonstrate how the courtroom becomes a crucial institutional site where "racialized discourses of sexuality and gender" unfold. Through analysis of trial proceedings, I reveal how prosecutors, defense attorneys, witnesses, and the judge navigate discussions of Black sexuality and gender in ways that reinforce heteronormative assumptions while occasionally allowing for contestation.

Author

• Jarvis Benson, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill