Basic Info

First Name
Michal
Last Name
Pitoňák
Affiliation
Queer Geography; National Institute of Mental Health
Countries
Czechia (The Czech Republic)
Field
Geographies of sexualities, queer theory, LGBTQ+ psychology, social psychology, sociology, social epidemiology, human rights, social critical theory

Scholar's Bio

Photo
Position
researcher, (in)dependent scholar
Short Bio

I work at the boundary of several disciplines that lock together via my intersecting research interests in understanding the workings of societal heteronormativity and its effects on geographies of sexualities, quality of life in non-heterosexuals, spatiotemporal negotiation of non-heterosexual identities and specifically the effects of heteronormative stigma and/or minority stress on mental health in non-heterosexuals and gender-nonconforming people. My background in human geography drives my motivations to study various links between the structural-individual scales and penetrate the barriers between diverse disciplinary thought. I also have a background in queer and feminist theories. I work at the National Institute of Mental Health (Klecany, Czechia), where my research focuses on minority stress and its effects on Czech non-heterosexual populations. I also work as an independent scholar in the field of geographies of sexualities and as a chair of a Prague based NGO Queer Geography that focuses on the popularization of evidence-based science, and functions as a knowledge base to support of non-heterosexuals’s and gender-nonconforming people’s rights and liberties in Czechia, Slovakia and beyond. My activities also include work in HIV/AIDS destigmatization and related policymaking. 

Website, Blog, or Social Media Link
Link Text
Period
Languages
Czech, Slovak, English, Hungarian
Recent/Major Publications
PITOŇÁK, M. (2019). Lessons from the “Periphery”: Countering Anglo-Geographic Hegemony over geographies of sexuality and gender. Documents d’Anàlisi Geogràfica, 1573, 1. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/dag.573
 
PITOŇÁK, M. & KLINGOROVÁ, K. (2019) Development of Czech feminist and queer geographies: identifying barriers, seeking progress, Gender, Place & Culture, DOI: 10.1080/0966369X.2018.1563528
 
ŠERÝ, O., & PITOŇÁK, M. (2019). „Queer podniky“ v Brně. Sociální Studia, 16(1), 79–102. Retrieved from https://journals.muni.cz/socialni_studia/article/view/12277
 
PITOŇÁK, M. (2019). V sexuálním closetu / Geografie „ne-heterosexuálních lidí“. In R. Osman & L. Pospíšilová (Eds.), Geografie „okrajem“: Každodenní časoprostorové zkušenosti (pp. 147–182). Praha: Univerzita Karlova.
 
PITOŇÁK, M. (2018): Rozostření příčin a následků: Syndemie HIV mezi ne-heterosexuálními muži. Biograf, 67-68: . Dostupné na http://www.biograf.org/clanek.html?id=1038
 
MRAVČÍK, V., PITOŇÁK, M., HEJZÁK, R., JANÍKOVÁ, B., & PROCHÁZKA, I. (2018). HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the Czech Republic and Related Factors: Comparison of Key Populations of People who Inject Drugs and Men who Have Sex with Men.
 
PITOŇÁK, M. Mental health in non-heterosexuals: Minority stress theory and related explanation frameworks review. Mental Health & Prevention. 2017, 5(March), 63-73. ISSN 2212-6570. DOI: 10.1016/j.mhp.2016.10.002.
 
PITOŇÁK, M., SPILKOVÁ, J. Homophobic prejudice in Czech youth: a socio-demographic analysis of young people’s opinions on homosexuality. Sexuality Research and Social Policy. 2016, 13(3), 215-229. ISSN 1553-6610. DOI: 10.1007/s13178-015-0215-8. IF 1.452.
 
MRAVČÍK, V., PITOŇÁK, M., HEJZÁK, R., JANÍKOVÁ, B., & PROCHÁZKA, I. (2017). HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men in the Czech Republic, 2016: high time for targeted action. Eurosurveillance, 22(48), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2017.22.48.17-00079
 
PITOŇÁK, M. (2014): Queer prostor(y). In: MATOUŠEK, R. and OSMAN, R. (eds.): Prostor(y) geografie. Karolinum 123-146. ISBN: 978-80-246-2733-5.