Blake Roberts

Homeokin is a framework for understanding notions of queer kinship. It is a singular affinity—a way of relating and being—that is distinctly queer and equal to kinship. It does not necessitate a distinction or qualification (here, queer) as homeokin is reified by not having such a distinction or qualification. Homeokin is equal-but-different and equal-but-not-in-opposition to kinship. This thesis frames homeokin as a way out, a way up, a way to celebrate communities and individuals toward radical liberation. The LGBTQ+ community has to find the balance between assimilation and radical liberation in personal journeys toward family building, love building, futurity building, and self-actualization. Sitting in this potentially uncomfortable truth is a way to celebrate liminality and its inescapability—it is a way to invite agonism into both our individual and collective notions of a queer futurity. As the difficult work is done to break free from confining social and cultural roles, the balance between assimilation and radical liberation is engaged. My thesis concludes that homeokin is at once theory and practice, codifying the affinity as a praxis that can help the LGBTQ+ community build a queer futurity.