Queer Men Research Articles

"…full of opportunities, but not for everyone": A narrative inquiry into mechanisms of labor market inequity among precariously employed gay, bisexual, and queer men.

This study brings lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (trans), and queer (LGBTQ+) populations into scholarly discourse related to precarious employment through a political economy of queer struggle. Drawing on narrative inquiry, 20 gay, bisexual, and queer men shared stories of precarious employment that were analyzed using Polkinghorne's narrative analysis. Results tell an overarching narrative in three parts that follow the trajectory of participants' early life experiences, entering the labor market and being precariously employed. Part 1: Devaluation of LGBTQ+ identities and adverse life experiences impacted participants' abilities to plan their careers and complete postsecondary education. Part 2: Participants experienced restricted opportunities due to safety concerns and learned to navigate white, cis, straight, Canadian ideals that are valued in the labor market. Part 3: Participants were without protections to respond to hostile treatment for fear of losing their employment. These stories of precarious employment illustrate unique ways that LGBTQ+ people might be particularly susceptible to exploitative labor markets.

Mental health experiences of young gay, bisexual, transgender, two-spirit, queer, and non-binary people in Canada

There is a growing body of research on the disparities, barriers, and inequities experienced by sexual- and gender-minority communities in Canada, particularly in comparison with heterosexual cisgender counterparts. This article examines data from the community-based Canada-wide Sex Now 2018 (in person) and Sex Now 2019 (online) surveys to gauge the mental health, social and community connection, and service needs of young gay, bisexual, transgender, Two-Spirit, and queer (GBT2Q) men and non-binary people. Differences across people of colour, Indigenous, trans, and non-binary sub-populations provide insight for future interventions and targeted programs to support the mental health of GBT2Q young people across Canada.

“Homophobia” in the Country? Rural America and the Stigmatization ofLGBTQPeople: An Empirical Test of Norm‐Centered Stigma Theory

AbstractIn‐depth explorations of LGBTQ attitudes among rural Americans are sparse and often rely upon sweeping stereotypes that cluster all perspectives into one broad statement such as “homophobia” in the country. As a result, little is known about the relationships between rurality and the stigmatization of LGBTQ people. In addition, though research demonstrates that men are less supportive of LGBTQ people than women are, these patterns are unclear among rural Americans. In the current study, data from a sample of U.S. adults aged 18–64 stratified by the U.S. census categories of age, gender, race/ethnicity, and census region collected from online panelists (N = 2,802,n = 492 rural Americans) are utilized to investigate the relationships between rurality and attitudes toward lesbian women, gay men, bisexual women, bisexual men, trans women, trans men, nonbinary people, queer women, and queer men. Specifically, we offer a test of Norm‐Centered Stigma Theory with a focus on hetero‐cis‐normativity and intersecting experiences with social power (gender identity: cis women and cis men) as they relate to rurality and LGBTQ attitudes. Findings indicate that hetero‐cis‐normativity, rurality, and being a cisgender man are all significantly related to the stigmatization of LGBTQ people. Implications are provided.

Hard Pressed: Queer Print Theory in Germany and Austria in the Long 19th Century

This essay examines the ways in which the material realities of art print production opened onto the lived experiences of their queer makers and viewers in Germany and Austria during the long 19th century. After an initial analysis of how pressure registered in the work of German artist Sascha Schneider, I examine how the translation of works by the Tyrolean painter Franz von Defregger into print facilitated their collection by queer men across Germany and Austria. My final case study focuses on the print collection of the queer Austrian Archduke Ludwig Viktor, arguing that print collecting played a constitutive role in queer self-fashioning. Working through these three disparate case studies, I examine how the technical principles of pressure, translation, and incorporation might help us to revise and reimagine queer male subjectivity in the years around the turn of the 20th century.

“I Thought They Would at Least Love Me”: The Gay Experiences of Heteronormative Regimentation in Indian Families, a Phenomenological Ethnography

This paper inquires into the heteronormative regimes of sexual morality, focusing on the experiences of gay and queer men within the locus of family. Drawing upon a phenomenological ethnography involving interviews with the Indian gay community, this study demonstrates the disciplinary power of sexual morality over queer lives. It examines the varied strategies of moral regimentation within the locus of family, including regimenting through silencing, moral dictation, and penalizing. These strategies reflect the prevailing conservative and sex-negative attitudes in Indian society, particularly patriarchal expectations toward men and the pressure for marriage, which augments familial and social burdens on gay men, resulting in emotional distress. The cumulative effects lead to gay men living double lives, presenting a socially accepted façade while repressing their authentic queer selves, indicating a guilty conscience and internalized homophobia. These experiences correlate with risky sexual behavior, substance abuse, and overall compromised mental health. This phenomenological inquiry highlights the role of the family as a locus of moral control of queer individuals and contributes to the sociological understanding of morality as a power-relation.

No Strangers: Older Gay Men in the Films of Ventura Pons

In a career spanning more than five decades Catalan filmmaker Ventura Pons (Barcelona, 1945) has directed over 30 films. His eclectic filmography does not easily fit categories or labels of any kind, including queer cinema. However, the frequent presence of gay male characters and same-sex desire in his films is significant, especially given the advanced age of a very high proportion of those men. Pons’ camera does not shy away from presenting their bodies as both desirable and desiring, older bodies that don’t hide away from the camera. Starting with a re-reading of Amic/Amat (1998) from the perspective of aging studies, the article focuses on key examples of older gay and queer men in his work, with special emphasis on films that Pons directed in his sixties (Forasters (2008), A la deriva (2009), Mil cretins (2010)). It identifies recurring themes and tropes in this context, such as cross-dressing, memory or inheritance and finds that the filmmaker’s interest in queer memory is closely linked to arguably the main preoccupation of his work: the cultural history of Catalonia.

The Resistance is Always Black and Queer: Leadership as Resistance in Black Male Initiative and Men of Color Mentorship Programs

Defining leadership and student leader identity often brings a complex and complicated reality for Black students in higher education settings. Leadership identity, models, and practices are often grounded in Whiteness, heteronormativity, and cis-heteropatriarchy, which causes complex ways of understanding leadership. Thus, the purpose of this research is to explore how Black gay, bisexual, and queer men (BGBQM) redefine leadership as resistance and nuanced activism within Black male1 initiatives (BMI) and Men of Color (MoC) mentorship programs, given their Blackness and queerness identities. Using arts-based research (ABR) methodology, this research explores the following research questions: (1) How do BGBQM define masculinity and queerness and (2) how do BGBQM experience and enact nuanced activism in challenging heteronormativity and cis-heteropatriarchy in BMI and MoC mentorship programs? Findings are presented in a podcast script format to illuminate how these men center queerness and femininity, while challenging hegemonic masculinity and heteronormative notions of leadership engagement and development within BMI and MoC mentorship program settings.

Queering family history and the lives of Irish men before gay liberation

ABSTRACT Historians of sexuality commonly ‘read against the grain’ of the criminal archive as a way to reconstruct both the pitfalls and possibilities of queer cruising cultures. One of the drawbacks of this approach is how it can limit our knowledge of queer men to the fleeting moments of pleasure that led to an arrest, thus obscuring the broader complexities of their social world. The sources that can take us beyond this limited viewpoint – such as diaries, letters and memoirs – tend not to survive for same-sex desiring working-class men who did not live in major metropolises. In this article, I offer a replicable method for uncovering and reconstructing such difficult-to-access lives. By queering the practice of family history, the criminal archive becomes just a starting point that can be enriched through genealogical data, such as censuses, birth/marriage/death registrations, as well as more colourful information from now-digitised newspapers. The resulting ‘small queer histories’, I argue, can contribute to not just a deeper understanding of the sexual past but support important political work in the present too. To demonstrate both this methodology and its contemporary value, I use a case study of one man’s life in Ireland in the time before a Gay Liberation movement. I show how it was kinship networks that provided both the emotional and financial resources that enabled this man to both fight against a charge of ‘gross indecency’ and flourish in the decades after his arrest. This surprising reality of past support is of particular importance in a region where religiously sanctioned homophobia and intolerance were later informed by the supposed antipathy of the family to queer desires.

Preference for long-acting injectable for ART and PrEP among people with and without HIV: a cross-sectional study in Argentina.

Little is known about the preferences for antiretroviral therapy (ART) administration methods, such as oral daily pills or long-acting injectable (LAI) options, as well as preferences for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) administration methods among people without HIV in Latin America. This study aimed to assess the preferences for ART administration methods among people with HIV and PrEP methods among those without HIV, as well as to examine the correlations and reasons for these preferences. We conducted a cross-sectional web-based questionnaire between April and July 2021, using social media accounts of a HIV non-governmental organization. The questionnaire was open to all adults living in Argentina, irrespective of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The questionnaire included questions on substance use, depression, chronic treatment, previous experiences with injectable medication, and HIV status. Those with HIV answered questions about ART adherence and their preferences for ART methods, while those without HIV were asked about condom use, awareness of PrEP, and their preferences for PrEP methods. Out of 1676 respondents, 804 had HIV, and 872 did not. Among those with HIV, 91.5% expressed a high preference for LAI-ART, with significantly higher preferences among participants with higher educational levels, cisgender gay, bisexual, and queer men, younger individuals, and those with prior injectable medication experience. Among those without HIV, 68% preferred LAI-PrEP, and this preference was positively associated with previous positive experiences with injectable medication. The strong preference for LAI-ART suggests the potential for improved adherence and well-being among people with HIV. Additionally, the preference for LAI-PrEP among those without HIV emphasizes the importance of considering this option for HIV prevention strategies. This study highlights the need to offer diverse methods for ART and prevention to accommodate different preferences and improve health care outcomes in Latin America.

Pride Body: Racialized Gay and Queer Men’s Physique Preparation for Canadian Pride Events

This research explores why racialized queer and gay men work out prior to Pride events in Pride Toronto and Fierté Montréal. The findings show that muscular aesthetics are a type of gay social capital, and participants acknowledge that this may also increase undesired attention and limitations because of their racialized bodies. Participants voice the paradox of the “unspoken rule,” which derives from ideas of authenticity and superficiality. To be one’s most genuine self, racialized queer and gay men must achieve a high physical bodily aesthetic but may lose identity and agency. Yet, they transform their bodies as a daily dedication to their own well-being. Most seem to be aware of the contradictions and tensions in developing a muscled body, which is a personal journey each of them went through to find their own understanding and meaning.

Book Review: Violent Differences: The importance of Race in Sexual Assault Against Queer Men

Book Review: Violent Differences: The importance of Race in Sexual Assault Against Queer Men

Body image dissatisfaction and its association with homophobia, outness, depression severity, and suicide among young gay, bisexual, queer, and transgender men in Singapore: A cross-sectional study

Background The criminalization of sexual relations between men has stifled the development of social spaces and placed emphasis on sexual capital for gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (GBTQ) men in Singapore. This study aims to investigate the factors associated with body image dissatisfaction, and its link to health outcomes for young GBTQ men. Methods Results were derived from the Pink Carpet Y Cohort Study, Singapore’s first prospective cohort study among young GBTQ men. The sample comprised GBTQ men aged 18–25 years old. Statistical analyses were conducted through descriptive statistics, multivariable logistic and least-squares regression, and structural equation modeling techniques. Results A total of 396 participants were recruited. Results indicated that body mass index (BMI), homophobia, and outness were factors correlated with body image dissatisfaction. As an independent variable, we found that body image dissatisfaction was correlated with depression severity, and past suicidal ideation and attempt(s). Conclusions In the context of institutional and societal stigma and discrimination, homophobia and outness were associated with body image dissatisfaction. Future interventions should be targeted at addressing homophobia as a means of addressing body image dissatisfaction in young Singaporean GBTQ men, in hopes of achieving better health outcomes.

Criminally Fat: Reframing the homme fatal in Vera Caspary’s Laura (1943)

ABSTRACT The spectre of queer men features prominently in the traditions of both film noir and hard-boiled crime fiction. Like the femme fatale, these “deadly sissies” (Russo 70) are part of a much broader category of men whose nonconventional models of masculinity pose a threat to the detective figure and his representation of hegemonic masculinity. This article analyses the depiction of fat masculinities in Vera Caspary’s novel, Laura (1943), focusing on her notorious antagonist, Waldo Lydecker. By exploring what Christopher E. Forth describes as “the historical […] perceptions of fat males as weak, impulsive, and perverse” (387), this analysis suggests that Lydecker is the novel’s true fatal figure, whose masculinity undergoes a process of queering, not through his sexuality, but by articulating the developing association between fatness and femininity.

“The Best Little Boy in the World”: Disidentification in the Production of Black Gay Male Subjectivity1

This article examines how Black gay men produce identities in correspondence with cultural scripts of Black manhood. I illustrate how these scripts organize a subjectivity shaped by white supremacy and signify racial consciousness, respectability, and commitment to Black antiracism. The script intentionally excludes queer men. Instead, Black queer men are “faggots,” a subjectivity signifying weakness, wasted manhood, and capitulation to whiteness. Utilizing Muñoz's (1999, Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis) concept of disidentification, I track how participants engage in a reimagining of the conventional script of heteronormative Black masculinity to embody a subjectivity I call Super Black Man. This hybrid subjectivity responds to interlocking systems of race, sexuality, and gender in their lives by locating space in conventional Black male subjectivities for Black gay men. As Super Black Men, participants accomplished identities that did not compromise their self‐expression or affiliation with Black communities. I discuss how disidentification adds analytic complexity to this empirical investigation of Black gay men's identity work. What results is a more robust understanding of how race shapes the motives, trajectory, and outcomes of racialized sexual identities.

Virtually Masculine: Queer Men’s Experiences With Harassment in Online Video Games

Video games are an understudied sport featuring social interactions both similar and dissimilar to those in offline sports. While anonymity in online video games could create a space where minoritized groups experience more equitable treatment, offline social inequalities are translated into online video game interactions. Drawing on 20 semistructured interviews and 2,694 survey responses from self-identified queer men, I build a framework for understanding gender, sexuality, and racial/ethnic harassment in online video games. I argue that nerd masculinity is a protest masculinity that uses symbolic harassment to reframe masculine hierarchy online and enforce hegemonic nerd masculinity. With this study, I illustrate the prevalence of symbolic harassment and the channels it may follow to become direct harassment.

Punking: How appropriation revitalised it and the role institutions play in the protection and longevity of this elusive art

Abstract From the streets of Los Angeles in the early 1970s, a dance style named Punking emerged. This occurred at the height of the civil rights movement in the underground LGBTQ+ clubs of LA by a group of BIPOC queer men. A blend of sharp, exaggerated poses and movements borrowed from Hollywood films and pop culture became an art form that reflected their identity and encapsulated the escapism and liberation of a group of young queer people growing up in an environment where being queer was illegal and dangerous. By the late 1980s and 1990s, the dance faded, but it still influenced dance styles such as jazz, house, and even vogue. In the early 2000s, interest in the dance was reignited. However, its name and origins remained elusive, prompting an investigation into its history, shifting narratives and exclusion from dance history. In this article, I will explore how a dance form becomes lost in translation and how this dance can be preserved and introduced into institutionalised spaces to offer resources and legal protection for an art form on the verge of erasure from history.

“Keeping Condition”: Gender Ambiguity and Sexual Citizenship of Queer Male Thai Classical Musicians

AbstractGender pluralism has become a rich scholarly topic in Southeast Asia, especially with the rise of LGBT mobilisations across the region in the past decade. Transgender ritual specialists dominate the field of study, with a growing body of literature on Southeast Asian queer expressive cultures. However, queer performances in several classical performing arts are often excluded from the scholarship due to the field's association with the “traditional”. In this article, I address this scholarly gap by examining the social lives of queer men in Thai classical string music. I focus on a strategy called kep aakaan or “keeping condition” in which the musicians in question carefully articulate and disarticulate their femininity to render their gender nonconformity ambiguous under the heteronormative gaze. Using ethnographic methods to investigate the lived experience of queer male musicians on and off the stage, I show that “keeping condition” is not just about managing the display of queer potential but is also closely intertwined with morality and citizenship. Drawing on the ideas of tacit subjects and contextual sensitivities, I argue that “keeping condition” exposes the fluidity in which queer musicking bodies move between queerness and heteronormativity in ways that are more reconciliatory than confrontational. By focusing on the complicities of queerness and heteronormativity, I argue that non-normative classical performing arts can be a productive site for critical gender, sexuality, and queer studies in Southeast Asia, cutting through the “traditional” and “modern” divide that looms large in the region.

A community-based study to set the policy agenda for the well-being of 2GSBTQ+ men in Ontario, Canada

Abstract Two-Spirit, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (2SGBTQ+) men face significant health inequity. This article reports on two phases of a study conducted in conjunction with the Gay Men’s Sexual Health Alliance (GMSH) to examine 2SGBTQ+ men’s health inequity. First, an environmental scan of existing Ontario government health policy was conducted to identify specific gaps. Second, six focus groups of GMSH Alliance members (n = 21) were conducted to understand the impact of policy gaps and identify potential strategies to address them from the community’s perspective. We argue that to meet the wellness needs of the community, community development and healthy public policies are appropriate strategies. The environmental scan confirmed that there is currently very limited policy content specific to 2SGBTQ+ men’s wellness and mental health. Data from focus groups were consistent with the scan. GMSH Alliance members struggled to serve their community in the absence of sufficient resources. Participants also expressed an interest in advocacy, but they felt that they lacked the skills to do so. It is clear that 2SGBTQ+ men face population-specific health risks, and much work is needed to advocate for 2SGBTQ+-centred well-being policy. Future work should develop a policy that focuses on addressing many of the issues raised in this research, while also contributing to the achievement of health equity for 2SGBTQ+ men.

Conformity to Masculinity Norms and Mental Health Outcomes Among Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Two-Spirit, and Queer Men and Non-Binary Individuals.

Homophobia and biphobia negatively impact the mental health of gay, bisexual, trans, Two-Spirit, and queer men and non-binary individuals (GBT2Q) and sexual and gender minority men, but little is known about the impact of gender-related oppression. The current study examines the impact of pressure to conform to masculine norms in Canada-based GBT2Q individuals. Specifically, the associations between (a) gender expression and pressure to be masculine and (b) pressure to be masculine and depression, anxiety, and self-rated mental health were investigated. Drawing from an online national cross-sectional survey of 8,977 GBT2Q individuals and sexual and gender minority men living in Canada aged 15 years or older, 56.4% (n = 5,067) of respondents reported experiencing pressure to conform to masculine norms. Respondents were more likely to report masculine pressure if they were younger than 30 years, described their gender expression as fluid, identified their sexuality as queer, were an ethnoracial minority, and were trans. Pressure to be masculine was associated with increased odds of depression, anxiety, and reporting poor or fair mental health. The current study provides evidence of the detrimental impact of pressure to conform to masculine norms on the mental health of gay, bisexual, trans, Two-Spirit, and queer men and non-binary peoples.

Corrigendum to: Familiarity with, perceived accuracy of, and willingness to rely on Undetectable=Untransmittable (U=U) among gay and bisexual men in Australia: results of a national cross-sectional survey.

The Undetectable=Untransmittable (U=U) message has been promoted since it was demonstrated that viral suppression through HIV treatment prevents sexual transmission between serodiscordant partners (HIV treatment as prevention). Our study assessed familiarity with, perceived accuracy of, and willingness to rely on U=U in a national sample of gay and bisexual men in Australia. We conducted a national, online cross-sectional survey in April-June 2021. Eligible participants were gay, bisexual and queer men and non-binary people who lived in Australia. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with familiarity, perceived accuracy and willingness to rely on U=U (by having condomless sex with a partner with HIV who has an undetectable viral load). Of 1280 participants, most were familiar with U=U (1006/1280; 78.6%), the majority of whom believed U=U was accurate (677/1006; 67.3%). Both familiarity and perceived accuracy were higher among participants living with HIV, followed by pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) users, HIV-negative participants not taking PrEP, and untested/unknown status participants. Knowing at least one person living with HIV, among other factors, was associated with familiarity and perceived accuracy of U=U; and familiarity was associated with perceived accuracy. Among participants familiar with U=U, less than half were willing to rely on U=U (473/1006; 47.0%). Familiarity with U=U and knowing at least one person living with HIV were associated with willingness to rely on U=U, among other factors. We found familiarity with U=U was associated with perceived accuracy and willingness to rely upon it. There is an ongoing need to educate gay and bisexual men (particularly HIV-negative men) about U=U and its benefits.