Table of Contents

Foreword by Violet Blue ix
Introduction 1
1 Unlikely Bedfellows 27
2 Straight Code 61
3 Overblocking 111
4 Pornotopia Bound 145
Conclusion 175
Acknowledgments 191
Notes 193
Index 253

About the Author

Alexander Monea is Assistant Professor in the English Department and Cultural Studies Program at George Mason University.

Reviews

"In this enlightening account, Alexander Monea argues that the internet is riddled with heterosexual bias, effectively forcing LGBTQIA+ content back into the closet through opaque algorithms, warped keywords and other strategies of digital overreach."
—E&T Magazine
 
"[The Digital Closet's] comprehensive examination of exclusion and discrimination towards the queer community online, situated in a web of conservative policy and heteronormative pornography, reminds us that digital infrastructure not only reinforces bias but can also establish a harmful online world order with physical repercussions."
—AIGA Eye on Design
 
"Thorough and insightful. . . . Through his account of a new, algorithmic heteronormativity, Monea contributes to the field of communication with novel approaches to theory and method that provide needed insight for studying social media platforms 'beyond the black box.'"
—International Journal of Communication
 
"[The Digital Closet] details the policing of online spaces focused on the LGBTQ+ community. . . . Monea's work is an example of the growing field of research that focuses on how LGBTQ+ people, including youth, sex workers and other internet users, experience the internet in a different way than heterosexual people."
—ABC News