Spacetimequeering: Experiences of Chinese Queer Women While International Students in Australia

Chinese queer women in Australia often face layered pressures shaped by sexuality, migration, race, and university life, yet their experiences remain under-researched. This study asks how Chinese queer women international students in Australia reshape what feels possible in their lives across different places, times, and everyday materials. I conducted seven months of sensory ethnography with a Chinese queer women’s group that organises monthly litter-picking walks, alongside three rounds of interviews with five participants. The thesis identifies three key “spacetime coordinates” focused on first love, study and settlement, and walking-with litter. It shows how ordinary practices and objects can both constrain and enable safer, more liveable queer futures.