Negotiating and Managing Gay Identities in Multiple Heteronormative Spaces: The Experiences of Black Gay Mineworkers in South Africa

ABSTRACT

Sexual diversity is a contentious topic in South Africa because many people still hold the perception that sexual identity can only be understood in heteronormative terms. This article adopts a feminist research approach to investigate how black gay male identities are constructed and managed at home, within friendships and in mining workplaces, drawing on data collected from five black gay male mineworkers. It opens up discussion on gay mineworkers’ experiences in a country where diversity is upheld and celebrated through a democratic constitution, yet gay men must often negotiate and manage their sexual identities to fit in with the dominant heteronormative discourses present in different spaces in society, including adopting false heterosexual identities in particular spaces, which limits their freedoms. The study argues that experiences of constructing and managing black gay identities in heteronormative spaces is guided by the level of acceptance and tolerance perceived by gay people.

KEYWORDS:

• Gay identity
• heteronormativity
• social space
• masculinities
• mineworkers
• passing
• identity construction
• South Africa

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The abbreviation “LGBTIQ+” and the term “sexual minority” are used interchangeably in this article to refer to individuals whose sexual identities do not conform to the heteronormative definitions of sexuality.

2. The colloquial term “bae” is used to refer to a person’s romantic partner.

3. A township, in the South African context, refers to an underdeveloped urban area that is situated on the periphery of a town or city. Townships were historically reserved for black people under apartheid laws. While South Africa has moved to democracy and abandoned laws that enforced the racial segregation of whites and non-whites (black african, Indian and\coloreds), these areas remain predominantly black.

4. Stabane is a derogatory Isi-Zulu word that directly translates to “a gay person.” It has negative connotations and is usully used to to attack or degrade gay men and women in some South African townships and rural areas.

Additional information

Funding

This research was fully funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF), South Africa.