Negotiating Multiple Identities in a Queer Vietnamese Support Group

Abstract

My participant-observation with O-Môi, a support group for Vietnamese lesbians, bisexual women and female-to-male transgenders, and interviews with members, focusing on how different identity issues are negotiated, suggest that despite O-Môi's claim of supporting its members' multiple marginalized identities, group processes in everyday pragmatic interactions construct a hierarchy that centers and normalizes experiences of bilingual Vietnamese lesbians. This renders the marginalization of bisexual women, transgender men, and Vietnamese/English monolingual members. Using the concept of "identity work" to examine the intersection of race/ethnicity, class, and gender/sexuality as everyday (counter)hegemonic processes, I discuss how organizational structure, discourse resources, and personal politics orient and mold members' talk and interactions leading to normalization and/or marginalization of certain groups' experiences.

Drag Kinging and the Transformation of Gender Identities

“…This lack of resonance meant that they did not experience DBT as a free space for their own gender interrogation. Similar to Masequesmay's (2003) research on the negotiation of multiple marginalized identities within a support group, I found that DBT normalized dominant white masculinities and femininities.…”

Predicting electoral activism among gays and lesbians in the United States

“…Moreover, integration into LGB groups probably fosters some aspects of collective action frames that we failed to study. Qualitative works by Taylor and Whittier () and Masequesmay () suggested that extended conversations in gay‐only settings fostered more in‐group camaraderie and sharper distinctions between heterosexual and sexual minority communities. Future research may want to see if these claims are accurate and if additional qualities of LGB groups enabled political activism.…”

Substance Use Among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Sexual Minority Adolescents: Findings from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health

“…As Asians they bear the additional task of dealing with racial discrimination. To cope with racism and social isolation, AAPI sexual minority men and women may band together to create a "family of choice" as a safe space to affirm and explore their ethnic, sexual, and gendered identities [6,9,13]. Others may cope with racism, social isolation, and the accompanying negative feelings by resorting to substance use [5].…”