Les-being and Identity Politics: The Intersectionality of Sexual Identity and Desire

Abstract

Language and sexuality research has recently seen a heated debate over whether the linguistic constitution of sexuality should still be focused on matters of identity or rather on matters of desire. I want to contribute to that debate and argue that this is a non-productive dichotomy. We need to stop the counter-effective spectator sport of academic in-fighting and see desire as one aspect of the articulation of sexual identity. To demonstrate the advantages of the proposed intersectional approach, I will analyse the case of the initiative of the Hungarian Lesbian NGO called Labrisz that approached secondary schools in the country, offering help in the sexual education of the pupils and organising discussions of dissident sexual orientation. I will carry out an ideology critique of the NGO leaflet sent to the directors to argue that, for a pedagogical initiative to successfully inhabit the weaknesses of the heterosexual norm, it should not exclude the discussion of desire but highlight desire as an important dimension of sexual identity, especially as part of a project launched in the name of authenticity.