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Date of Award

5-2026

Document Type

Restricted Thesis: Campus only access

Degree Name

Master of Arts in English and Writing Studies

Department

English

First Reader/Committee Chair

Cavallaro, Alexandra

Abstract

During the mid-to-late twentieth century, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) systematically tracked and surveilled queer people as part of its “Sex Deviates” program. In recent decades, much has been discussed about the tactics that the bureau undertook to enact such surveillance. However, often overlooked in these discussions is the role that public writing and texts, especially those written by everyday people, had in the bureau’s surveillance. In this project, I address this gap by drawing on an analysis of over 100 public texts found in the Dan Siminoski collection, an archive holding the only surviving documents from the surveillance program. Findings reveal that public writings by everyday people assisted the FBI’s surveillance by 1) reporting on the everyday activities and activism of queer people and 2) by engaging in homophobic discourses that justified the oppression and policing of queer people. These public writings, more significantly, point to the existence of what I see as an infrastructure where everyday people, across institutions, produce writings that expose those who are actively working against state norms. Given that this infrastructure is one that people often do not know they are a part of, this project draws significant attention to the covert ways in which everyday people get recruited, and the ways in which knowing about it can lead everyday people to tactically navigate and subvert its functions.

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