Separate Identities

In Chapter 4 of the reading, Chauncy discusses the need for gay men in the city to forge separate identities. One needed to be “manly” and unquestionably heterosexual. With a second “private” identity, he could be whoever he wanted, someone free to express his sexuality in whatever form they desired. They could be a fairy or refuse to label themselves and thereby “preserve” their masculinity.

The public’s view of fairies colored their entire perspective of homosexuality. They weren’t “manly” so couldn’t be associated with males, they weren’t fully female, but rather labeled as “third-sexers.” Other homosexual men refused to acknowledge it because they didn’t want to be associated with fairies. One clerk in the 1930s was quoted saying, “I had heard about fairies and I began to be alarmed. I would cringe at the thought that I was one of them, although there was always some man I desired” (100). Hence the need for the multiple identities mentioned above.

Today, unfortunately, I think a lot of this type of thinking stills exists. While they may not directly form different identities, many do have to act differently in a work environment than in their private lives. In my Voices of Discovery section we discussed this a bit. One person said that they had a “work persona,” which they described as more toned down than the one they displayed in their private life. They consciously projected a more heterosexual persona in order to avoid persecution. They didn’t put pictures up of their significant other so as not to alert coworkers of their sexual orientation.

To me, it is disheartening that many still feel as though it is not safe for them because of their sexual orientation, that many still do not have equal rights under law. That a governor finds it acceptable to revoke protection laws for LGBT state employees (http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-kansas-governor-gay-protection-20150210-story.html) and that fewer than half of the states have statewide laws protecting against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Although the reading did raise some interesting points about the role of masculinity in society in the 1890s through 1940, as far as sexual orientation goes, I thought that there were some strong similarities between society’s view of homosexuality in 1890 and 2015.