A soclogist spent two years terviewg gay gang members. While some were the closet and others were openly gay, all were forced to reckon wh an environment of hypermasculy.
Contents:
GAYS THE GANG
There are many stereotyp of and assumptns about street gangs, jt as there are many stereotyp and assumptns about gay men. In movi and televisn, some of the most regnizable gay characters have been portrayed as effemate or weak; they’re “fashnistas” or “gay bt iends. This obv ntradictn was one of the ma reasons I was drawn to the subject of gay gang members.
For my book “The Gang’s All Queer, ” I terviewed and spent time wh 48 gay or bisexual male gang members. All were between the ag of 18 and 28; the majory were men of lor; and all lived or near Columb, Oh, which has been referred to as a “Midwtern gay mec. The experience, which took place over the urse of more than two years, allowed me to explore the tensns they felt between gang life and gay manhood.
Some of the gang members were gangs ma up of primarily gay, lbian or bisexual people. Others were the only gay man (or one of a few) an otherwise “straight” gang.