The post‐gay debates: Competing visions of the future of homosexualities

Abstract

Sexualities scholars and cultural critics debate whether or not the United States is moving toward a “post‐gay” future in which sexual orientation will cease to be relevant to a person's social position, life experiences, and conception of self. While some have argued that a post‐gay revolution is underway, others are more skeptical of this claim, particularly for rural, non‐White, poor, and otherwise marginalized queers. Further, recent political shifts may indicate that a backlash to the mainstreaming of nonheterosexualities has begun, meaning any progress of the past that might be labeled post‐gay has stalled or even lost ground in recent years. In addition to the question of whether there has been a post‐gay turn, there is disagreement over whether such a turn should be the end goal of sexualities activism. Some champion a post‐gay ethos as a means to alleviate sexuality‐based discrimination while others critique this kind of assimilation and argue it actually intensifies inequality and stratification. This article explores the history of these post‐gay debates and discovers significant conceptual confusion inherent in the use of the term, which limits its utility as a social scientific concept. In addition, we argue that despite the better intentions of some scholars who take it, the post‐gay position ultimately buttresses homonormative strategies of social and political activism that actively exclude marginalized queer and trans people. We suggest that to the extent the concept of post‐gay remains academically relevant, it is as a descriptor of a particular politics or discourse rather than as a statement of fact about the contemporary era.

Collaborative construction of the closet (in and out): The affordance of interactivity and gay and lesbian employees’ identity work online

“…In this case, the social practice of sexual identity disclosure is framed as a dated and old-fashioned ritual, as the expression 'from the last century' illustrates. We suggest that this identity threat draws from queer (Butler, 1990), post-gay (Kampler and Connell, 2018) and poststructuralist critiques of modern identities and identity politics (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Archive, 2020), which question the idea of authentic, coherent, natural, and stable identities, including sexual identities. These critiques challenge identity labels such as 'gay', 'lesbian' and 'heterosexual', which are seen as contingent products of historical developments.…”

Labor Immobility, Stability Discourse, and LGBQ Young Adults’ Career Plans in Japan

“…This discourse holds that non-heterosexual orientations today represent only one of many personal attributes, rather than a defining attribute that overrides other attributes and imposes stigma on the individual. Many scholars are critical of the discourse because it overlooks persistent marginalization of LGBQ people and recent backlash movements (e.g., Duggan 2002; Kampler and Connell 2018). I explain below that Japanese people share a different set of social discourses about same-sex sexuality and occupational careers.…”

Lived difference

“…The idea that difference matters less in shaping LGBT youth identities depends on how far homophobia has declined (McCormack, 2012). Evidence shows that this is not evenly spread or irreversible (Kampler and Connell, 2018), and that comparable gains have not been made for bi-or transphobia (Mathers et al, 2018). A connected issue is the intersectionality of difference and what that means for LGBT youth.…”

“…What this means for how LGBT youth construct difference is what this chapter explores. By examining how normalising regimes intertwine, it asks how the complex meanings of difference in the stories of disabled LGBT youth frequently get overlooked in 'post-gay' debates (Kampler and Connell, 2018). The chapter first explores heteronormativity and normalcy as entwined vectors that construct normality and difference, then it explores the account of a young gay man with Asperger syndrome, drawing out how he articulated a 'misfit' identity (Garland-Thomson, 2011).…”