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Remapping disclosure: gay men's segmented journeys of moving out and coming out

Remapping disclosure: gay men's segmented journeys of moving out and coming out
Remapping disclosure: gay men's segmented journeys of moving out and coming out
Drawing on recent work that examines the contingent, personal nature of queer migration, this paper provides empirical support for recent claims that coming-out journeys are more complex than the linear, often rural-to-urban typologies that have framed them during the past two decades. Since coming-out journeys are rarely elaborated beyond a conceptual level, overly teleological understandings involving homophobic, rural places, inclusive urban homelands, and one-time, linear ‘flights’ and ‘escapes’ persist. Employing the migration narratives of 48 self-identified gay men who settled in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and Washington, DC, USA, this paper challenges the linearity and finality of coming-out migration by highlighting particular segments of the journey. These include short-term trips to scout the gay life potentials of places, migrations that result in a degree of re-entry into ‘the closet,’ relocations that allow men to test or try on different places and identities, and moves (or imminent moves) that ‘trigger’—rather than stem from—a coming-out process. Taken together, these segments suggest that coming-out journeys are ongoing, relational, and often discontinuous journeys influenced by both queer individuals’ intersectional subjectivities (e.g., age, race, and class) and the social contexts of the places they encounter.
gay, migration, coming out, sexuality, canada, usa
1464-9365
211-231
Lewis, Nathaniel M.
f0218afb-51ea-4141-a1e9-d031d8b98645
Lewis, Nathaniel M.
f0218afb-51ea-4141-a1e9-d031d8b98645

Lewis, Nathaniel M. (2012) Remapping disclosure: gay men's segmented journeys of moving out and coming out. Social & Cultural Geography, 13 (3), 211-231. (doi:10.1080/14649365.2012.677469).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Drawing on recent work that examines the contingent, personal nature of queer migration, this paper provides empirical support for recent claims that coming-out journeys are more complex than the linear, often rural-to-urban typologies that have framed them during the past two decades. Since coming-out journeys are rarely elaborated beyond a conceptual level, overly teleological understandings involving homophobic, rural places, inclusive urban homelands, and one-time, linear ‘flights’ and ‘escapes’ persist. Employing the migration narratives of 48 self-identified gay men who settled in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and Washington, DC, USA, this paper challenges the linearity and finality of coming-out migration by highlighting particular segments of the journey. These include short-term trips to scout the gay life potentials of places, migrations that result in a degree of re-entry into ‘the closet,’ relocations that allow men to test or try on different places and identities, and moves (or imminent moves) that ‘trigger’—rather than stem from—a coming-out process. Taken together, these segments suggest that coming-out journeys are ongoing, relational, and often discontinuous journeys influenced by both queer individuals’ intersectional subjectivities (e.g., age, race, and class) and the social contexts of the places they encounter.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 20 October 2011
e-pub ahead of print date: 13 March 2012
Published date: May 2012
Keywords: gay, migration, coming out, sexuality, canada, usa
Organisations: Population, Health & Wellbeing (PHeW)

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 377667
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/377667
ISSN: 1464-9365
PURE UUID: db1de1b9-ad72-453c-bd9a-49298f5c9f19

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Date deposited: 08 Jun 2015 13:21
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 20:07

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Author: Nathaniel M. Lewis

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