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LGBTQ culture or queer culture is the shared culture, experiences, values, and expressions of LGBTQ people, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. It may be referred to by other variants of the initialism LGBTQ, while the term gay culture can refer either to LGBTQ culture in general or specifically to homosexual culture.
LGBTQ culture varies widely by geography and the identity of the participants. Elements common to cultures of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people include:
Not all LGBTQ people identify with LGBTQ culture; this may be due to geographic distance, unawareness of the subculture's existence, fear of social stigma or a preference for remaining unidentified with sexuality- or gender-based subcultures or communities. The Queercore and Gay Shame movements critique what they see as the commercialization and self-imposed "ghettoization" of LGBTQ culture.
In some cities, particularly in Northern America, some LGBTQ people live in neighborhoods with a high proportion of gay residents, otherwise known as or gayborhoods—examples of these neighborhoods include Greenwich Village, Hell's Kitchen, and Chelsea in Manhattan; Castro and West Hollywood in California, United States; Le Village in Montreal, Canada; and Church and Wellesley in Toronto, Canada. Such LGBTQ communities organize special events in addition to pride parades celebrating their culture such as the Gay Games and Southern Decadence. On June 27, 2019, the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor was inaugurated at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village.
Primarily associated with lesbians in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, lesbian culture has often involved large, predominantly lesbian "women's" events such as the Michigan Womyn's Music FestivalLo, Malinda Behind the Scenes at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival April 20, 2005 AfterEllen (closed after 2015) and the Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend.[2] Ficera, Kim Don't Quote Me: Dinah Shore Weekend February 22, 2006 AfterEllenDowns, Maggie Dinah Shore events part of celebration that began with a round of golf March 28, 2010 The Desert Sun Lesbian culture has its own icons, such as Melissa Etheridge, k.d. lang (butch), Ellen DeGeneres (androgynous) and Portia de Rossi (femme). Lesbian culture since the late 20th century has often been entwined with the evolution of feminism. Lesbian separatism is an example of a lesbian theory and practice identifying specifically lesbian interests and ideas and promoting a specific lesbian culture.Bunch, Charlotte/The Furies Collective, Lesbians in Revolt, in The Furies: Lesbian/Feminist Monthly, vol.1, January 1972, pp.8-9Hoagland articulates a distinction (originally noted by lesbian separatist author and anthologist Julia Penelope) between a lesbian subculture and a lesbian community; membership in the subculture being "defined in negative terms by an external, hostile culture", and membership in the community being based on "the values we believe we can enact here." Hoagland, Sarah Lucia. Lesbian Ethics: Towards a New Value, Institute for Lesbian Studies, Palo Alto, Ca.Tallen, Bette S. Lesbian Separatism: A Historical and Comparative Perspective, in For Lesbians Only: A Separatist Anthology, Onlywomen Press, 1988, , p141 Examples of this included womyn's land and women's music. Identity-based sports teams have also been associated with lesbian culture, particularly with the rise of lesbian softball teams and leagues in the 1980s and 1990s. Softball and other athletic teams created social community and allowed lesbians to reject social expectations of physicality, but were typically considered separated from lesbian feminism and political activism.
1950s and early '60s stereotypes of lesbian women stressed a binary of "butch" women, or dykes (who present masculine) and "femmes", or (who present feminine), and considered a stereotypical lesbian couple a butch-femme pair. In the 1970s, androgyny, political lesbianism, and lesbian separatism became more common, along with the creation of women's land communities. The late 1980s and 1990s saw a resurgence of butch-femme, and influences from punk subculture, grunge, riot grrrl, emo, and hipster subcultures. A genderqueer subculture developed in the 1980s and 1990s. In the 2010s, the rise of non-binary Gender identity brought some degree of return to androgynous styles, though at times with different intentions and interpretations than in the 1970s.
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, gay culture was largely underground or coded, relying on in-group symbols and codes woven into ostensibly heterosexuality appearances. Gay influence in early America was more often visible in high culture, where it was nominally safer to be out. The association of gay men with opera, ballet, haute couture, fine cuisine, musical theater, the Golden Age of Hollywood and interior design began with wealthy homosexual men using the straight themes of these media to send their own signals. In the heterocentric Marilyn Monroe film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, a musical number features Jane Russell singing "Anyone Here for Love" in a gym while muscled men dance around her. The men's costumes were designed by a man, the dance was choreographed by a man and the dancers (as gay screenwriter Paul Rudnick points out) "seem more interested in each other than in Russell"; however, her presence gets the sequence past the censors and works it into an overall heterocentric theme.
After the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City was covered on the mainstream news channels, showing images of gay men rioting in the streets, gay male culture among the working classes, people of color, street people, radical political activists and hippies became more visible to mainstream America. Groups such as the Gay Liberation Front formed in New York City, and the Mattachine Society, which had been in existence and doing media since 1950, gained more visibility as they addressed the crowds and media in the wake of the uprisings in Greenwich Village. On June 28, 1970, the first Christopher Street Liberation Day was held, marking the beginning of annual Gay Pride marches.
In 1980 a group of seven gay men formed The Violet Quill in New York City, a literary club focused on writing about the gay experience as a normal plotline instead of a "naughty" sideline in a mostly straight story. An example is the novel A Boy's Own Story by Edmund White. In this first volume of a trilogy, White writes as a young homophilic narrator growing up with a corrupt and remote father. The young man learns bad habits from his straight father, applying them to his gay existence.
American female celebrities such as Liza Minnelli, Jane Fonda, and Bette Midler spent a significant amount of their social time with urban gay men (who were now popularly viewed as sophisticated and stylish by the jet set), and more male celebrities (such as Andy Warhol) were open about their relationships. Such openness was still limited to the largest and most progressive urban areas (such as New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Miami, Washington, D.C., and New Orleans), however, until AIDS forced several popular celebrities out of the closet due to their illness with what was known at first as the "gay cancer".
Elements identified more closely with gay men than with other groups include:
During the 1980s and 1990s, Sean Martin drew a comic strip (Doc and Raider) which featured a gay couple living in (or near) Toronto's Gay Village. His characters have recently been updated and moved to the internet. Although primarily humorous, the comic sometimes addressed issues such as gay-bashing, HIV, and spousal abuse.
An Australian study conducted by Roffee and Waling in 2016 discovered how some gay men felt like they were expected to be hyper-sexual. Participants reported how other gay men would automatically assume that any interaction had sexual motivations. Furthermore, if it was then clarified that this is not the case then these gay men would suddenly feel excluded and ignored by the other gay men with which they had been interacting with. They felt that they could not obtain purely platonic friendships with other gay men. One participant reported feeling alienated and disregarded as a person if they were not deemed by other gay men as sexually attractive. This presumption and attitude of hypersexuality is damaging, for it enforces preconceived ideals upon people, who are then ostracised if they do not meet these ideals.
Recent research suggests that gay men primarily make sense of familial and religious challenges by developing online peer supports (i.e., families of choice) in contrast to their family allies' focus on strengthening existing family of origin relationships via online information exchanges. Participants' reported online sociorelational benefits largely contradict recent research indicating that online use may lead to negative mental health outcomes.
Fashion
Notable gay and bisexual fashion designers include Giorgio Armani, Kenneth Nicholson, Alessandro Trincone, Ludovic de Saint Sernin, Patrick Church, Gianni Versace, Prabal Gurung, Michael Kors and others are among the LGBTQ fashion designers across the globe.
Many bisexual, fluid, and pansexual people consider themselves to be part of the LGBTQ or queer community, despite any discrimination they may face. Western culture bisexual, pansexual, and fluid cultures also have their own touchstones, such as the books (edited by Lani Kaʻahumanu and Loraine Hutchins), Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution (by Shiri Eisner), and (edited by Robyn Ochs); the British science fiction television series Torchwood, and personalities such as British singer and activist Tom Robinson, the Black Eyed Peas member Fergie, Scottish actor Alan Cumming and American performance artist and activist Lady Gaga.
The bisexual pride flag was designed by Michael Page in 1998 to give the community its own symbol, comparable to the gay pride flag of the mainstream LGBTQ community. The pink (or rose) stripe at the top of the flag represents same-gender attraction; the royal blue stripe at the bottom of the flag represents different-gender attraction. The stripes overlap in the central fifth of the flag to form a deep shade of lavender (or purple), representing attraction anywhere along the gender spectrum. Celebrate Bisexuality Day has been observed on September 23 by members of the bisexual community and its allies since 1999. Day celebrates bisexuality, dispels myths. The Michigan Daily. Bi Community Celebrates. Bay Windows; 9/25/2003, Vol. 21 Issue 41, p3-3, 1/4p
In the contemporary West there are different groups of transgender and transsexual people, such as groups for transsexual people who want gender affirming surgery, male, heterosexual-only Cross-dressing and trans men's groups. Groups encompassing all transgender people, both trans men, Trans woman, and non-binary people, have appeared in recent years.
Some transgender or transsexual women and men, however, do not identify as part of a specific "trans" culture. A distinction may be made 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 their past (believing that they should be able to live normally in their true gender role, and control to whom they reveal their past).
According to a study done by the Williams Institute of UCLA on "How Many Adults Identify as Transgender in the United States?", they found that younger adults are more likely to identify as transgender than older adults. This may be a result of a newly wider acceptance of transgender people from the communities, allowing for those who identify as transgender to have a greater voice. In their research they found that an estimated 0.7% of adults between the ages of 18 and 24 identify as transgender, while 0.6% of adults age 25 to 64 and 0.5% of adults age 65 or older identify as transgender.
The pink on the transgender pride flag represents female while the baby blue on the flag represents male. The white stripe in between the baby blue and pink represents other genders besides male or female.
Transgender relationships
In the report "Views from both sides of the bridge? Gender, sexual legitimacy, and transgender people's experiences of relationships", authors Iantaffi and Bockting conducted a study with 1229 transgender individuals over 18 years old, to learn more about transgender relationships in the US. When it came to a relationships within a transgender person, it depended on if they wanted a heteronormative or mainstream culture relationship. Studies show transgender people can also be victim to heteronormativity too, and it can impact their relationships. There are also transgender people that try to challenge Western traditional beliefs in gender roles and sexual differences within relationships.
Related events are the , a series of annual marches, protests or gatherings that take place around the world, often during the time of the local pride week. These events are frequently organized by transgender communities to build community, address human rights struggles, and create visibility.
Gay and lesbian youth have increased risks for suicide, substance abuse, school problems and isolation because of a "hostile and condemning environment, verbal and physical abuse, rejection and isolation from family and peers", according to a U.S. Task Force on Youth Suicide report. Further, LGBTQ youths are more likely to report psychological and physical abuse by parents or caretakers, and more sexual abuse. Suggested reasons for this disparity are:
Increasing mainstream acceptance of the LGBTQ communities prompted the Massachusetts Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth to begin an annual Gay–Straight Youth Pride observance in 1995.Ethan Jacobs, "Mitt Romney's secret gay history!", Bay Windows, March 3, 2005. In 1997 the nonprofit Youth Pride Alliance, a coalition of 25 youth-support and advocacy groups, was founded to hold an annual youth-pride event in Washington, D.C.;"Dyer Appointed as District LGBTQ+ Director", District Chronicles, September 9, 2007. Candace Gingrich was a speaker the following year."Gingrich to speak at Gay Youth Pride Day", press release at Salon.com In 1999, the first annual Vermont Youth Pride Day was held. As of 2009 it is the largest queer and allied-youth event in Vermont, organized by Outright Vermont to "break the geographic and social barriers gay youngsters living in rural communities face.""Youth gay, lesbian event set for city", Rutland Herald, May 1, 2009. In 2002, a college fair was added to the event to connect students with colleges and discuss student safety. In April 2003 a Youth Pride Chorus, organized with New York's LGBT Community Center, began rehearsals and later performed at a June Carnegie Hall Pride concert with the New York City Gay Men's Chorus.Smith Galtney, "All Together Now: A New Chorus for GLBTQI Youth Prepares a Holiday Concert in New York", page 50, Out, December 2003.
In 2004 the San Diego chapter of Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) worked with San Diego Youth Pride coordinators to organize a Day of Silence throughout the county.Travis D. Bone, "San Diego schools observe Day of Silence: National event aims to make schools safer", Gay & Lesbian Times, April 15, 2004. In 2005, Decatur (Georgia) Youth Pride participated in a counter-demonstration against Westboro Baptist Church (led by church head Fred Phelps' daughter Shirley Phelps-Roper), who were "greeting students and faculty as they arrived with words such as 'God hates fag enablers' and 'Thank God for 9/11'" at ten locations.Terri Blackwell, Carolyn Mathews and Melissa Winder, "Groups chant their opinions at 10 protests", White County News Telegraph, March 10, 2005. In 2008 Chicago's Youth Pride Center, primarily serving "LGBTQ youth of color", opened a temporary location and planned to move into their new building on Chicago's South Side in 2010."LGBTQ+ Chicago Year in Review", Windy City Times, December 29, 2007. In 2009, the Utah Pride Center held an event to coincide with Youth Pride Walk 2009, a "cross-country walk by two Utah women trying to draw attention to the problems faced by homeless LGBTQ youth"."Utah Pride Center hosts LGBT homeless youth event", Associated Press, 8 July 2009. In August 2010 the first Hollywood Youth Pride was held, focusing on the "large number of homeless LGBTQ youth living on Los Angeles streets." According to a 2007 report, "Of the estimated 1.6 million homeless American youth, between 20 and 40 percent identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender". At larger pride parades and festivals there are often LGBTQ or queer youth contingents, and some festivals designate safe spaces for young people. Inside Pride, San Francisco Pride Guide, pages, pages 40-42, June 2010.
LGBTQ youth are more likely to be homeless than heterosexual, cisgender youth due to the rejection from their parents because of their sexual orientation, or gender identity (Choi et al., 2015; Durso and Gates, 2012; Mallon, 1992; Whitbeck et al., 2004). Out of the 1.6 million homeless people in the United States, forty percent of them identify as part of the LGBTQ community. In a survey of street outreach programs 7% of the youth were transgender (Whitbeck, Lazoritz, Crawford, & Hautala, 2014). Many of the transgender youth that are placed in homeless shelters do not get the type of help they need and often experience discrimination and systemic barriers that include sex-segregated programs in institutional practices that refuse to understand their gender. Many transgender youths have problems acquiring shelters because of certain policies like binary gender rules, dress codes, and room assignments (Thaler et al., 2009). Problems with classification happen when the procedures or policies of a shelter require the youth to be segregated based on their assigned sex rather than what they classify themselves as. As a result, many of the LGBTQ youth end up on the street instead of shelters which are meant to protect them.
LGBTQ youth also have a higher suicide rate in the U.S. Those who identify with the LGBTQ community are four times as likely to attempt suicide than those who do not. There was a study that was done to look into the difference of rates between gay high school students and their straight peers. They were asked about their sexual orientation and then about suicide. They found that about 32 percent of sexual minorities (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual) had suicidal thoughts in comparison to almost 9.5 percent of their heterosexual peers.
African-American LGBTQ culture
In the United States and Europe, some cities host black gay pride events with a focus on celebrating the black gay community and culture. The two largest in the world are Atlanta Black Pride and D.C. Black Pride. UK Black Pride is the largest celebration of its kind outside the U.S.
Movements and politics
LGBTQ social movements are social movements that advocate for LGBTQ people in society. Social movements may focus on equal rights, such as the 2000s movement for marriage equality, or they may focus on liberation, as in the gay liberation movement of the 1960s and 1970s.
LGBTQ conservatism is a socio-political movement which embraces and promotes the ideology of conservatism within an LGBTQ context.
LGBTQ culture in the military
In 2010, the repeal of the Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) was a great step in the inclusion of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals in the military. "The repeal of DADT reversed the practice of discharging LGB service members on the basis of sexual identity." Although this was a large shift in policy by the U.S. for those identifying as LGB, those who are transgender are still not fully included in this change.
Another problem is that bisexual and transsexual/transgender individuals experience social pressure to identify as gay or lesbian, and may face ostracism and discrimination from the mainstream LGBTQ culture. For bisexuals, this pressure is known as bisexual erasure. New York University School of Law professor Kenji Yoshino has written, "Gays de-legitimatize bisexuals...the lesbian and gay community abounds with negative images of bisexuals as fence-sitters, traitors, cop-outs, closet cases, people whose primary goal in life is to retain 'heterosexual privilege'".Yoshino, Kenji (2000). The epistemic contract of bisexual erasure. Stanford Law Review, 53(2), P. 399
Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore argues that the single-issue focus of LGBTQ politics, which ignores all intra-group differences, has naturally led to a movement and culture focused on the needs of white, middle-class gay cisgender men, which alienates anyone who does not fit that description.
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