Visibility Management and the Body

Abstract

The authors employed grounded theory to explore the high school experiences of gay, lesbian, and bisexual students in Central Texas. The central phenomenon that emerged from the study was Visibility Management, or decisions made regarding the disclosure of invisible traits. This article reviews the results of this research with an emphasis on the ways in which gay, lesbian, and bisexual participants used nonverbal strategies to manage their visibility. Results indicate that GLB youth use a wide range of nonverbal behaviors to regulate the degree to which their sexual identity is made known to others. Implications for clinical applications and further research are discussed.

Key Words:

• Bisexual
• gay
• lesbian
• high school students
• homosexuality
• secondary schools
• visibility management