Representation, Subjectivity and Ethics in Urban Gay Ethnography

Abstract

IN EXPLORING ISSUES of ethics and subjectivity stemming from two ongoing studies of urban gay life, our purpose is to describe some of the constraints influencing process and product in urban gay ethnography. Often, our status as members of the communities we study forces us to confront problems of responsibility and ethics, and we use both our anthropological training as well as our gay sensibility to mediate professional and personal considerations. Some of the constraints are the potential danger to lesbian and gay communities in disseminating research findings, the loss of a distinctly private gay sphere, and our responsibilities to lesbian and gay cultures.