Structures of Harm: Governance, Policing, and the Moral Geographies of Queer Homelessness

This project examines how governance—policing, shelter systems, and moral regulation—shapes the spatial lives and well-being of queer and trans people experiencing homelessness across Midwestern cities. It asks how laws, policies, and public moral discourse both neglect and control LGBTQ+ unhoused populations; how queer and trans people navigate these systems; and how communities create alternative safety and belonging. Using mixed methods—policy and archival analysis, a survey (~1,155 respondents), and ~40 in-depth interviews in Chicago, Columbus, and Indianapolis—the study compares governance across progressive, hybrid, and conservative urban contexts. Grounded in structural violence, moral governance, and queer geography literatures, the project illuminates how inequality is spatially produced and offers policy-relevant insights for more humane, community-centered responses.