Relationships, intimacy and desire in the lives of lesbian, gay and bisexual youth in South Africa

ABSTRACT

This article answers the following questions: how do nine lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) young people in South Africa understand and talk about relationships, intimacy, and desire; what does this understanding and talk tell us about gender and sexuality in South Africa; and how useful is the metaphor of the ‘closet’ to understand how LGB youth talk about relationships, intimacy and desire? At the time of the study, they were between 16 and 19 years old and attending school in grades 10 to 12. We used in-depth interviews, which were more like conversations, where primarily open-ended questions focused on these young people’s experiences, and found that relationships of love and care, the desire for love and intimacy, and the ability to exist alongside and for others pervade these young people’s lives. In this regard, employing postcolonial and Southern theory we argue that the youth use the concept of the closet, but that they understand it differently. We also argue that the concept of the closet may not accurately capture the particular positions that youth occupy in society because the concept of the closet suggests separation rather than engagement. The notion of being separate from the surrounding community is anathema to and contradicts these nine young people’s worldviews and those of the communities in which they live.

Keywords:

• lesbian
• gay and bisexual
• relationships
• desire
• intimacy
• closet
• youth
• South Africa

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Dennis Francis

DENNIS FRANCIS is a former dean of education and currently a professor of sociology at Stellenbosch University. He has written extensively on gender and sexuality diversity and schooling.

Finn Reygan

FINN REYGAN (PhD) is currently a Senior Researcher at the Wits Centre for Diversity Studies (WiCDS) and has written extensively on issues of diversity in education, particularly sexual and gender diversity in schooling across Southern Africa.