Ethnographic Study of Twenty-Six Gay and Bisexual Working-Class Men in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

SUMMARY Twenty-six working-class gay and bisexual men were interviewed using ethnographic techniques to better understand their resilience in light of the homophobia, heterosexism, discrimination, classism, violence, AIDS, alcohol and substance abuse they experience. From the interviews various themes emerged: heterosexual assumption, sense of difference, sexual experimentation, coming-out process, family support, mateships, class identity, violence, alcohol and drug abuse, and homophobia.