Getting Out in the “Real World”: Young Men,Queer and Theories of Gay Community

ABSTRACT

A recent opinion piece published in the Sydney Morning Herald expresses a widely held perception that, among young same-sex attracted men in Australia, “queer” has well and truly supplanted “gay” as the language and lens through which self and practice is generated. In this article, I discuss findings from a qualitative research project that studied notions of community among young gay men, and argue that this assumption should not be taken for granted. The article explores participants' understandings of the concept of “gay community,” arguing that the young men studied share a common definition of community: one based on a conventional liberal model which prioritizes sameness and the cooperation of individuals to achieve common goals. This is of particular importance in that problems around “fitting in” with these understandings are also raised. In examining the potential place for queer alternatives to these formulations, however, the article finds that queer attracts little support among participants, raising questions about the bind young men may find themselves in if they prioritize sameness as fundamental to community, yet feel themselves to be excluded from community by their own or others' perceived difference.     

Imagined comrades and imaginary protections: identity, community and sexual risk among men who have sex with men in China

This paper describes the recent development of identity and community among gay men in China. It focuses both on the ways emerging forms of gay identity relate to larger ideological and discursive shifts within society, and on the ways these new forms of identity and community affect situated social interaction among gay men themselves. In particular, it addresses the question of how these emerging forms of gay identity and gay community affect the ways gay men in China understand the threat of HIV and make concrete decisions about sexual risk and safety. Among the chief tactics used by gay men in China to forge identity and community involves appropriating and adapting elements from dominant discourses of the Party-State and the mass media. This strategy has opened up spaces within which gay men can claim "cultural citizenship" in a society in which they have been heretofore marginalized. At the same time, this strategy also implicated in the formation of attitudes and social practices that potentially increase the vunerability of Chinese gay men to HIV infection.     

"Asian" men on the scene: challenges to "gay communities"

This article examines common assumptions behind the notion of "gay community," contrasting these views with the experiences of homosexual men originating from Southeast Asia on the commercial gay scene in Melbourne, Australia. The narratives here reveal fragmented social networks involving various social groups, categories of people and an "In/Out" culture where informants were culturally marginal. Fitting into the scene culture involves processes of assimilation, and loss of connection even with supportive ethnic networks. While all men who look for a place to belong on the scene generally feel pressure to assimilate to a predominantly white middle-class gay culture, Southeast Asian men generally had more cultural distance to cover. Men who are not well assimilated face exclusion, invisibility and discrimination. Differences and discrimination within Southeast Asian based networks also contributed towards fragmented relations. This article raises questions about dominant gay cultural forms, assumptions of gay solidarity, and how ethnic minority men make sense of and negotiate their sexual and social experiences.     

The careful balance of gender and sexuality: rural gay men, the heterosexual matrix, and "effeminophobia"

Based on life narratives, this article explores rural gay men's subjectivity in France and the United States. After growing up in rural cultures, these gay men tend to adopt similar hetero-centered ideas about masculinity. We show that these "conventional" ideas impact their sense of self as they express feelings of "effeminophobia." They differentiate themselves from effeminate gay men and emphasize their similarities with straight men. These ideas are both coercive and disciplinary as they homogenize rural gay men's discourse and masculine identities.     

Sister outsider, or "just another thing I am": intersections of cultural and sexual identities in Australia

This article originates from a radio project titled Muff Divas and Drag Queens that investigated a wide range of gay and lesbian histories in the state of New South Wales. The project produced two half-hour radio programs that were broadcast nationally on community radio stations in February 1996 to coincide with Sydney's annual month-long Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival, the premier event on Australia's queer cultural calendar. Of the two documentaries produced, the first addressed 30 years of queer culture in New South Wales while the second explored our diverse identities as lesbians and gay men. This paper draws extensively on material collected for the second program. Muff Divas and Drag Queens was funded under the Literature and History Program of the New South Wales Government's Ministry for the Arts, with support from the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras cultural program and Sydney community radio station 2SER.FM.     

Gay grows up:an interpretive study on aging metaphors and queer identity

This study is based upon qualitative research conducted with the Phoenix chapter of the Prime Timers, a social organization that offers older men in the gay community a space to communicate their general needs and desires. Using data collected through participant observation and informant interviews, the research demonstrates the ways in which the group's affiliates respond to queer sensibilities. The analysis argues that intergenerational communication is fettered by age stereotypes that generate communicative boundaries between young and old members of the gay community. The report then suggests that age-based breakdowns in communication prevalent in the gay community are further advanced by a difference in intergenerational approaches to survival.     

A double epidemic: crystal methamphetamine drug use in relation to HIV transmission among gay men

Emerging research on methamphetamine use among gay men suggests that growth in the use of this drug could present serious problems for HIV/AIDS prevention within the gay community. This article summarizes current studies on the extent, role, and context of methamphetamine use among gay men and its relationship to high risk sexual behaviors related to HIV transmission. Methamphetamine is often used by gay men to initiate, enhance, and prolong sexual encounters. Use of the drug is, therefore, associated with particular environments where sexual contact among gay men is promoted, such as sex clubs and large "circuit" parties. Research with gay and bisexual men indicates that methamphetamine use is strongly associated with risky sexual behaviors that may transmit HIV. This relationship, coupled with emerging evidence that methamphetamine use is on the rise among gay men, suggests that the drug could exacerbate the HIV/AIDS epidemic among this community. The article offers recommendations for further research and suggestions for prevention programs regarding methamphetamine use by gay men.     

Several Common Bonds: Addressing the Needs of Gay and Bisexual Men in LGBT-Specific Recovery Housing

ABSTRACT

Recovery housing is a promising way to augment the substance use continuum of care, but we know little about the experiences of members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community who live in them or about residences specifically for them. Within the LGBTQ community, gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) often experience co-occurring syndemic conditions (e.g., trauma, depression, HIV) that present unique recovery challenges. Using qualitative data gathered from residents living in a recovery residence specifically for gay and bisexual men and from community key informants, we examine the experiences of men living in the home and factors that facilitate operating it. Findings highlight the need for residences that can address syndemic burden among gay and bisexual men in recovery and identify programmatic and community-level factors critical to operating residences for this population.     

“Nobody Don’t Really Know What That Mean”: Understandings of “Queer” among Urban LGBTQ Young People of Color

ABSTRACT

Drawing from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 40 urban LGBTQ young people of color, I explore their uses, understandings, and meanings of “queer.” With several notable exceptions—those who at least occasionally self-identified as queer—most of the young people avoided using the term altogether. Although the majority expressed confusion about what “queer” meant, many understood it to be somehow related to sexuality or being gay, but considered it potentially insulting. I discuss the relevance of these findings for work in queer fields, where research participants may not explicitly identify as queer or make use of the word.     

"Beautiful publicity": an introduction to queer Asian film

With a few seemingly apolitical exceptions, openly queer cinemas have generally charted two opposing courses-a propagandistic search for bourgeois acceptance or a radical challenge to sexual hegemony. Yet even the most politically challenging of queer films, for example those of Pasolini, are nevertheless distributed and disseminated through the heteronormative and hegemonically capitalist means they philosophically oppose. This essay thus takes as its texts two low-budget gay male Japanese films of the 1980s, which have been made available on international home video, as opposing examples of politicoeconomic allegories enacted within the self-reflexive contexts of queer cinema and gay male political history. Taken together, the two films present an interlocking example of how Asian queer films both engage and refute "Eastern" and "Western" conceptions of homosexuality and sexual politics in general.     

Community in gay male experience and moral discourse

The three sociological conceptions of community are outlined: the imagined community, community as friendship, and community as local organizations or groups. The extent to which gay men in New York City experience a gay community in each of these ways is investigated by means of in-depth interviews. The type of moral discourse utilized by the gay men interviewed is also discussed. Finally, gay men in New York City are compared to the new Russian Jewish community in Brooklyn as to which is more "postmodern."     

"Josh wears pink cleats": inclusive masculinity on the soccer field

In this ethnographic research of a college-based soccer team at a large liberal college in Northeast America, I document the existence of more inclusive versions of masculinity that contrast conventional understandings of male teamsport athletes. Using participant observation and 21 in-depth interviews, I show that these men demonstrate metrosexual and inclusive behaviors and attitudes. The styles of masculinity these men enact are more relaxed, liberal, and inclusive; they are well styled, well groomed, gay friendly, and they are emotionally and physically close to other men. They are far removed from the traditional orthodox sporting masculinities of previous generations. Symbolizing their difference, their gendered expressions also extend to the wearing of pink soccer boots (cleats), without homophobic judgment from teammates. I discuss the wearing of pink cleats as a symbolic sociological moment, revealing the changing nature of masculinities among this group of college-based soccer players.     

Race relations and racism in the LGBTQ community of Toronto: perceptions of gay and queer social service providers of color

This article explores race relations and racism within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community of Toronto, Ontario, from the perspective of seven gay/queer social service providers of color. Social constructions of race, race relations, and racism were placed at the centre of analysis. Employing interpretive phenomenological analysis, findings indicated that intergroup and broader systemic racism infiltrates the LGBTQ community, rendering invisible the lived experiences of many LGBTQ people of color. The study contributes to a growing body of research concerning our understanding of factors underpinning social discrimination in a contemporary Canadian LGBTQ context.     

"He was treating me like trash, and I was loving it...": perspectives in gay male pornography

As the topic of gay male pornography has received limited attention from social scientists, little is known about how gay men perceive this medium. In the current study, a focus group methodology was used whereby participants examined specific scenes from commercially available gay pornography in terms of the messages they disseminate about the body and gay sexuality, in general. Findings suggest that discussants tended to view the medium from a utilitarian perspective. They saw pornography as a masturbatory aid, and did not believe that it possessed much significance vis-à-vis gay men's attitudes and behaviours. Those who identified potentially negative influences of this medium saw them as transitory and most likely to occur among gay men other than themselves.     

Using chopsticks to eat steak

"Rice queens," "small dicks," and "Asian take-aways," are just a few of the stereotypes that Asian gay men are faced with in Sydney's gay culture. Even though the author grew up in and quickly assimilated to the general Australian society, he felt like an outsider when he came out and moved into the gay community, where race-based sexual perceptions appear to dominate. This article is a personal exploration of how one Asian gay man came to find a place for himself within the predominantly white-oriented gay community. For the benefit of linguistically challenged readers, a glossary of Australian terms is provided at the end of this very serious article.     

"It ain't all as bad as it may seem": young Black lesbians' responses to sexual prejudice

This article explores the ways in which young, Black lesbians manage their sexual minority identity when experiencing sexual prejudice. Fourteen Black lesbians between the ages of 16 and 24 participated in semistructured interviews. Instances of sexual prejudice and the young women's responses were thematically analyzed using open and axial qualitative coding techniques. Results indicated that participants experienced sexual prejudice frequently and even within the lesbian community. Responses to sexual prejudice included: cognitive reframing of heterosexist messages, passing, gaining support from self-created gay families, and fighting back (physically and verbally) in the event of isolated instances of sexual prejudice. Analysis focuses on how gender identity relates to experiences of sexual prejudice and identity management strategies. Findings suggest that there are parallels between the management strategies of these women and young, Black gay and bisexual males and between these women and Black women who are coping with sexism and racism.     

Cape queer? A case study of Provincetown, Massachusetts

Cape Queer is a case study that details how sexuality intersects with race, gender, and class in the development of the gay and lesbian resort community, Provincetown, Massachusetts. It asks scholars to pay closer attention to the ways in which methodologies and practices utilizing LGBT studies and queer theory can combine rather than separate to interrogate LGBT and queer histories, politics and communities. In the process, it assesses how the global mechanics of capitalism led to the local queering and eventually un-queering of a gentrified, white, gay and lesbian enclave.     

A queer anxiety: assimilation politics and cinematic hedonics in Relax . . . It's Just Sex

This essay explores the commodification of queer identities in independent cinema, offering particular attention to P. J. Castellaneta's 1998 film, Relax . . . It's Just Sex. Like many contemporary queer independent productions, Relax is ensnared in a representational cinematic hedonics, aspiring to sustain a traditional gay and lesbian politics and simultaneously produce pleasure for multiple audiences. While Relax attempts to position itself as a queer film that resists normative conceptions of sexuality, the feature inadvertently appropriates more essentialized understandings of identity closely aligned to liberation rhetoric.     

"I thought this course was going to be streamlined!": the limits of normal and the possibilities of transgression

This article offers an analysis of the parallels between neo-liberalism, epistemology, and pedagogy, specifically related to how neoliberal ideologies narrow the possibilities for considering transgressive sexualities. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) education encourages educators to consider queer lives and communities, and can do so in ways that leave intact or challenge dominant norms. Neoliberalism, an economic expression of liberalism, rests on ideologies that support privatization and a diminished notion of the public good. These ideologies can become intertwined with epistemological expectations in the classroom. Related to queer theory and pedagogy, neoliberalism can profoundly narrow the possibilities for queer subjecthood. Epistemological neoliberalism, or structures of knowing that endorse an often falsely rendered normality, can be active in the classroom. This article explores two comments students offered in courses on gender and communication to explore the ways in which neoliberal ideologies bear on epistemological and pedagogical practices in ways that profoundly narrow conceptions of the social and constitutions of the subject, particularly related to transgressive sexualities and queer lives.     

YouTube as a Site of Counternarratives to Transnormativity

ABSTRACT

In this article, I discuss how transnormativity can be disrupted by not exaggerating the physical aspects of medical transition and by engaging in conversations around consequential sources of tension within gender and sexual minority communities, namely linguistic understandings of trans and gendered racism within white, gay, cisgender communities toward trans communities of color. This study is based on qualitative interviews with six trans YouTubers; these interviews were complemented by analyses of these YouTubers’ videos and select comments on these videos. With this exploratory study, I aim to provide nuance to existing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans (LGBT) YouTube literature through highlighting the experiences of nonbinary trans vloggers and trans vloggers of color, regardless of medical transition status, as well as contribute a transfeminist analysis to ongoing conversations around transnormativity within sociology, cultural and media studies, and queer and trans theory.