A queer theory of housing politics: on gentrification and chrononormativity

This chapter examines the relationship between sexual normativity, temporal normativity and housing by placing theories of ‘gay gentrification’ into dialogue with ‘chrononormativity,’ a queer concept that allows us to denaturalise and critique the value attributed to passing through a series of markers at the ‘right’ age and in the ‘right’ sequence (Freeman 2010). Exploring contemporary dynamics of occupation and displacement in Liverpool (UK), I deploy a chrononormative lens to illuminate the interplay of sexual and temporal norms that govern who is able to inhabit the city, what the conditions for this are, and how this affects urban politics. From the aparthotels that house hen-parties, to the yuppie dormitories promising ‘frictionless’ living, and into the LGBT+ nuclear families growing into the suburbs, I demonstrate that sexuality and temporality shapes residential life in Liverpool’s city centre in ways that exceed ‘gay gentrification’ and inhibit attempts to queer urban justice.