Civilian Don't Ask, Don't Tell

• In Event: 2351 - Ethnography/Ethnographic Studies

Abstract

Though lesbians and gay men stood on unequal footing compared to straight citizens for the majority of the 20th century, they gained widespread legal protections and social inclusion in the 1990s, prompting scholars to deem this current era as post-gay. Yet, sexuality remains a contentious topic as anti-gay backlash follows legal victories. In this deeply divided moment, how do people in public places negotiate queerness in their interactions? Using symbolic interactionist and queer theoretical perspectives, I draw on two seasons of ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with queer vendors and administrators at a public outdoors farmers’ market in Madison, Wisconsin. I argue that although queer people live outside of the closet, queer and straight people alike avoid and minimize overt queerness at the market, suggesting a norm that I term Civilian Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (CDADT). Though participants defined the role of sexuality in their lives, micro interactional and macro structural forces constrained their options. While CDADT can protect queer people from microaggressions, the norm minimizes queerness and perpetuates heteronormativity at the market. These findings nuance understandings of the post-gay era: avoidance and minimization remain around public queerness, with micro and macro forces influencing queer people’s ability to define the role of sexuality in their everyday interactions.

Author

• Jaclyn Wypler