The performative power of naming: The use of 'Gay-Straight Alliance' in debate over Ontario's Accepting School Act (Bill 13).

摘要

The introduction of Ontario's Accepting School Act (Bill 13) was followed by an intense public debate over the use of the name "Gay-Straight Alliance" (GSA) for student organizations. Using the concept of performativity , this study explores how the discourse over Bill 13 reflects the proponents' expectations of and the oppositions' ambivalence towards the potential effects of naming GSA clubs. This study contends that the discourse over the naming of GSAs becomes a site of resistance and agency, where different movements, through challenging and maintaining performative effects, attempt to open up "unknowable context" in order to advance certain political or social projects.