(Redirected from
Gay subculture)
Sexuality and gender identity-based cultures concern the culture, knowledge, and references shared by members of sexual minorities or transgendered people by virtue of their membership in those minorities or their state of being transgendered.
Among the first to argue that members of sexual minorities can constitute cultural minorities as well as being just individuals were Adolf Brand, Magnus Hirschfeld and Leontine Sagan in Germany. These pioneers were followed later, in the USA, by the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis.
Not all members of a particular sexual minority participate in, or are aware of, the subculture that may be associated with that minority. In addition to simply not knowing that the culture exists, non-participants may be geographically or socially isolated, they may feel stigmatized by the subculture, they may simply dislike it (feeling it is outdated, corrupted, or does not align with their personal taste or style), or they may prefer to affiliate with some other culture or subculture.
See also: integration, separatism, discrimination.
Sexual orientation and gender identity-based cultures (LGBT)
Sexual minorities defined by sexual orientation and gender identity — gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people — are often seen as having a common culture, which can be called LGBT culture, Queer culture, or gay culture. In academia, when discussing works of literary or artistic value, the term used is often 'homoeroticism'. (We will use the term LGBT culture in this article. The term Queer is perceived by many to be political or objectionable, although others use it as the primary description of their sexual minority culture. We will reserve the term "gay culture" for gay men's culture.)
The idea is quite contentious. Some argue that there are too many LGBT people who do not participate in this culture for the idea to be meaningful, or that the culture constitutes a stereotype or is associated with only a radical minority.
Others argue that LGBT culture is an undeniable fact, and/or that it constitutes the basis of a LGBT nation with a common understanding and history.
The existence of a larger community including gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people has also been questioned by noting the exclusion of some of these groups by others; for example, bi-phobia among gays and lesbians, transphobia among non-trans LGB people, or lack of inclusiveness of lesbians in gay milieux. For example, some cities have separate neighbourhoods for gay men and for lesbians.
A response could be that, although these sorts of prejudice and exclusion exist among part of the community, they do not necessarily impede members of all of the groups from participating in a common culture.
It ought to be remembered, further, that LGBT culture is often intensely marked by geography and surrounding culture. It is important to remember that what may often be thought of as "LGBT culture" may be peculiar to North America and/or Europe, and not found among other LGBT communities around the world.
Elements often identified as being common to the culture of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered people include:
- The work of famous gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. This may include:
- Present-day LGBT artists and political figures;
- Historical figures who have been identified as LGBT. It has often been questioned whether it is appropriate to identify historical figures using modern terms for sexual identity (see History of sexuality). However, many LGBT people feel a kinship towards these people and their work, especially to the extent that it deals with same-sex attraction or gender identity.
- An understanding of the history of the LGBT rights movement.
- An ironic appreciation of things linked by stereotype to LGBT people.
- Figures and identities that are present in the LGBT community; in Euro-American LGBT culture, this could include the gay village, drag kings and queens, Pride, and the rainbow flag.
LGBT communities organize a number of events to celebrate their culture, such as Pride parades; one of the largest such events is the Gay Games.
Gay male culture
It can be difficult to delimit what is specific to gay male culture, and what to LGBT culture. In the last half-century, the broader culture has focused more heavily on gay men than on other members of the LGBT community. The origins of this, whether due to numbers, perceived greater (or lesser) transgressivity, and/or sexism (this can refer to sexism against gay men, or to the other groups), is open to debate. Likewise, gay men's culture is often better known to lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered people than those groups' particular cultures may be known to gay men.
Some elements that may be identified more closely with gay men than with other groups include:
- pop-culture gay icons who have had a traditionally gay male following (for example, in Euro-American gay culture, disco, Madonna, Judy Garland, and so forth);
- familiarity with certain aspects of romantic, sexual, and social life that have been common among gay men (for example, in Euro-American gay culture, Polari, poppers, camp, and the fag hag; in Indian gay culture, evening people).
There are a number of subcultures within gay male culture, such as bears, chubbies, and gay skinheads. There are also subcultures that have historically had a large gay male population, such as the leather and SM subcultures.
Lesbian culture
As with gay men, lesbian culture includes elements both from the larger LGBT culture and elements that are more closely specific to the lesbian community.
Often thought of in this regard are elements of counterculture that have been primarily associated with lesbians in Europe and North America. The history of lesbian culture over the last half-century has also been tightly entwined with the evolution of feminism.
Older stereotypes of lesbian women stressed a dichotomy between women who adhered to stereotypical male gender stereotypes ("butch") and stereotypical female gender sterotypes ("femme"), and that typical lesbian couples consisted of butch/femme couples. Today, some lesbian women adhere to being either "butch" or "femme" but these categories are much less rigid and there is no express expectation that a lesbian couple be butch/femme.
See labrys, black triangle.
Bisexual culture
Bisexuals are in the pecular situation of receiving hatred, distrust, or denial from elements of both the heterosexual and homosexual populations. There is of course some element of general anti-LGBT feeling, but some people insist that bisexual people are unsure of their true feelings, that they are experimenting or going through a "phase", and that they eventually will or should "decide" or "discover" which (singular) gender they are sexually attracted to.
More people of all kinds are becoming aware that there are some people who find attractive sexual partners among both men and women - sometimes equally, sometimes favoring one gender in particular more often.
It is important to remember the distinctions between sexual orientation (attraction, inclination, preference, or desire), sexual identity (self-identification or self-concept), and sexual behavior (the gender of one's actual sex partners). For example, someone who may find people of both genders attractive might in practice have relationships with people only one of those genders.
One popular misconception is that bisexuals find all humans sexually attractive. That is no more true than the idea that, say, all straight men would find all women sexually attractive.
Many bisexual people consider themselves to be part of the LGBT or Queer community.
In an effort to create both more visibility, and a symbol for the bisexual community to gather behind, Michael Page created the
bisexual pride flag.
The bisexual flag, which has a pink or red stripe at the top for homosexuality, a blue one on the bottom for heterosexuality and a purple one in the middle to represent bisexuality, as purple is from the combination of red and blue.
Transgender culture
The study of transgender culture as such is complicated by the many and various ways in which cultures deal with gender. For example, in many cultures, people who are attracted to people of the same sex — that is, those who in Anglo-American culture would identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual — are classed as a third gender, together with people who would be classified as transgender or transsexual.
Some transgender or transsexual women and men however do not classify as being part of any specific trans* culture, however there is a distinction between transgender and transsexual people who make their past known to others and those who wish to live according to their gender identity and not reveal this past, stating that they should be able to live in their true gender role in a normal way, and be in control of whom they choose to tell their past to.
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