‘Risky visibility’

Overview

Politicians face high levels of public scrutiny and abuse online, with minoritised candidates experiencing qualitatively different treatment. Queer politicians, in particular, face ‘risky visibility’, where their sexuality, combined with other intersecting factors, leads to more personal harassment. 

Using queer and feminist theory, this article examines online harassment through two case studies focusing on:

1. Openly out Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, queer+ (LGBTIQ+) politicians from Australia’s 2022 federal election  
2. Survey data from politically engaged young gender and sexually minoritised groups

The analysis reveals that, unlike straight politicians, queer politicians receive more personal harassment (focused on appearance, sexual identity and gender performance) than political harassment (focused on party or policy issues). This harassment negatively impacts the political pipeline, creating a double bind for queer politicians and distracting from genuine political issues, with implications for democracy.

Key findings

• Queer and non-queer politicians face roughly similar rates of online harassment. 
• However, queer politicians are much more likely to receive more personal, vitriolic harassment than non-queer politicians. 
• Queer politicians face a double bind, experiencing more personal hate that impacts them and distracts from genuine political debate.