Queer Afrofuturism: Utopia, Sexuality, and Desire in Samuel Delany's "Aye, and Gomorrah"

This article examines the multiple "queer" identities readers encounter in Samuel Delany's "Aye, and Gomorrah" through an afrofuturist lens. In the short story, Delany presents contrasting depictions of sexuality and desire in queer spaces. This article argues that the short story positions queer utopia, sexuality, and desire within a sublimated discourse of race. The story's portrayal of social deviants such as gay voyeurs, fetishistic "frelks," and desexed "spacers" introduces contemporary readers to early developments in queer afrofuturism—especially its relationship to queer utopian community and posthuman desire.