“Be Your(Real Lesbian)Self”

Abstract

This article investigates the ways individuals tell their life stories as a means of social movement activism. The authors rely on the participant observation fieldwork of one author, wherein she participated on “ panels” of a local lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) organization as they spoke to classes and organizations ostensibly to inform audiences about panelists’ experiences as LGBT people. Using analytic bracketing, they look at the kinds of meanings being conferred in these settings and the strategies used to accomplish the goal of undoing stereotypes. They find that although panelists are encouraged to “be themselves”—unique, nonstereotypical individuals—the auspices of the setting and the coming-out formula story call on panelists to typify what it means to be LGBT, albeit in ways that contradict popular stereotypes. The authors place the analysis within a broader historical trend of latemodern sexual storytelling and discuss some implications for storying identities in social movement work.