Must Identity Movements Self-Destruct?

A Queer Dilemma
Author(s): Joshua Gamson
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Social Problems, Vol. 42, No. 3 (Aug., 1995), pp. 390-407
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 Must Identity Movements Self-Destruct?
A Queer Dilemma*
JOSHUA GAMSON, Yale University

Drawing ondebates inlesbian andgayperiodicals andwritingsfrom andaboutpost-structuralist "queer

theory " andpolitics,
thispaperclarifiesthemeanings anddistinctive of"queerness,
politics " inorder totraceits
implications forsocialmovement theory andresearch. Thechallengeofqueertheory andpolitics, I argue,is
primarily initsdisruptionofsexandgender boundaries
identity anddeconstruction ofidentitycategories.The
debates (overtheuseoftheterm"queer" andoverbisexual andtransgenderinclusion)raisequestions notonly
aboutthecontent ofsexuality-basedpolitical butovertheirviability
identities, and usefulness. Thisin turn
challenges socialmovement theory tofurther articulate
dynamics ofcollective
identity
formation anddeploy-
ment.Whilerecent socialmovement theory has paidattentiontothecreation and negotiation ofcollective
identity, ithasnotpaidsufficient attentiontothesimultaneous impulse todestabilize fromwithin.
identities
Thattendency, whileespeciallyvisibleinlesbian andgaymovements, isalsovisibleinother socialmovements.
It callsattention toa generaldilemma ofidentity Fixedidentity
politics: are boththebasisfor
categories
oppression andthebasisforpolitical power.Theinsights ofbothsidesofthedilemma highlightedhereraise
important newquestionsforsocialmovement theoryand research.

Focusedpassionand vitrioleruptperiodically in the letterscolumnsof San Francisco's

lesbianand gaynewspapers.WhentheSan Francisco BayTimes announcedto "thecommu-
nity"thatthe 1993 FreedomDay Paradewouldbe called"TheYearoftheQueer,"missives
firedforweeks. The paradewas whatit alwaysis: a huge empowerment party.But the
letterscontinueto be telling."Queer"elicitsfamiliararguments:over assimilation, over
generational overwho is considered"us" and who getsto decide.
differences,
On thislevel,it resemblessimilararguments in ethniccommunities in which"bounda-
and cultures,
ries,identities, are negotiated,defined,and produced"(Nagel 1994:152). Dig
deeperintodebatesoverqueerness,however,and something moreinteresting and signifi-
cantemerges.Queernessin itsmostdistinctive formsshakesthegroundon whichgayand
lesbianpoliticshas beenbuilt,takingaparttheideasofa "sexualminority" and a "gaycom-
munity," indeedof"gay"and "lesbian"and even"man"and "woman."' It buildson central
ofidentity-based
difficulties organizing:theinstability ofidentitiesbothindividualand col-
lective,theirmade-upyetnecessarycharacter.It exaggerates and explodesthesetroubles,
haphazardly attempting tobuilda politicsfromtherubbleofdeconstructed collective
catego-
ries. Thisdebate,and otherrelateddebatesin lesbianand gaypolitics,is notonlyoverthe
contentofcollective (whosedefinition
identity of"gay"counts?),butovertheeveryday viabil-
ityand politicalusefulness (is thereand shouldtherebe such a thingas
of sexual identities
"gay,""lesbian,""man,""woman"?).

* ThankstoStevenEpstein,WilliamGamson, Arlene Stein,Verta Steven

Taylor, Seidman, Adam,
Barry Jeffrey
CathyCohen,MarkBlasius,
Escoffier, Roger Lancaster,SteveMurray, andMatthew Rottnekforcomments on an
earlier ofthispaper.Correspondence
draft to:Department ofSociology, P.O.Box208265,
YaleUniversity, NewHaven,
CT06520-8265.
1. Although
I amdiscussing
them because
together oftheirjointstruggle
againstthe"sex/gender
system"(Rubin
1975)onthebasisofsame-sex lesbians
desire, andgaymenhavelonghistories ofautonomous (Adam1987;
organizing
D'Emilio1983).Genderhasbeenthestrongest division inmovements
historically forgayandlesbian andlibera-
rights
notsurprisingly,
tion, giventhevery waysinwhich
different malehomosexuality havebeenconstructed
andlesbianism
andpenalized.Thisdivision
istakenupexplicitlylaterinthediscussion.

390 SOCIAL PROBLEMS,Vol.42, No. 3, August1995

 A QueerDilemma 391
Thispaper,usinginternaldebatesfromlesbianand gaypoliticsas illustration, bringsto
theforea keydilemmain contemporary identity politicsand traces out itsimplications for
social movementtheoryand research.2As I will show in greaterdetail,in thesesortsof
debates-whichcropup in othercommunities as well-two different politicalimpulses,and
two different formsof organizing, can be seen facingoff.The logicand politicalutilityof
deconstructing collectivecategories vie withthatofshoringthemup; each logicis true,and
neitheris fullytenable.
On theone hand,lesbiansand gaymenhave madethemselves an effectiveforcein this
countryoverthepastseveraldecadeslargelyby givingthemselves whatcivilrightsmove-
mentshad: a publiccollective identity.Gayand lesbiansocialmovements havebuilta quasi-
ethnicity, completewithitsown politicaland culturalinstitutions, festivals,neighborhoods,
even itsown flag.Underlying thatethnicity thenotionthatwhatgaysand lesbi-
is typically
ans share-the anchorofminority statusand minority rightsclaims-is thesamefixed,natu-
ral essence,a selfwithsame-sexdesires.The sharedoppression,thesemovementshave
forcefully claimed,is thedenialof thefreedoms and opportunities to actualizethisself. In
thisethnic/essentialist
politic,3clearcategories ofcollectiveidentity are necessary forsuccessful
resistanceand politicalgain.
Yet thisimpulseto builda collectiveidentity withdistinct groupboundarieshas been
met by a directlyopposinglogic,oftencontainedin queer activism(and in the newly
anointed"queertheory"):to takeaparttheidentity categories and blurgroupboundaries.
Thisalternative angle,influenced by academic"constructionist" thinking, holdsthatsexual
identities are historicaland socialproducts, not naturalor intrapsychic ones. It is socially-
producedbinaries(gay/straight, man/woman) thatarethebasisofoppression; fluid,unstable
experiencesof selfbecomefixedprimarily in theserviceofsocialcontrol.Disrupting those
categories, refusingratherthanembracing ethnicminority status,is thekeyto liberation.In
thisdeconstructionistpolitic,clearcollective categories arean obstacletoresistance and change.
The challengeforanalysts, I argue,is notto determine whichpositionis accurate,butto
cope withthe factthatbothlogicsmakesense. Queernessspotlights a dilemmasharedby
otheridentity movements (racial,ethnic,and gendermovements, forexample):4Fixediden-
titycategories are boththebasisforoppression and thebasisforpoliticalpower. Thisraises
for
questions politicalstrategizing and, more importantly forthe purposeshere,forsocial
movement analysis.Ifidentities are indeedmuchmoreunstable,fluid,and constructed than
movementshave tendedto assume-if one takesthe queer challengeseriously,thatis-
whathappensto identity-based socialmovements suchas gayand lesbianrights?Mustso-
ciopolitical strugglesarticulated through identity eventually underminethemselves?
Socialmovement theory, a logicalplaceto turnforhelpin workingthroughtheimpasse
betweendeconstructive culturalstrategies and category-supportive politicalstrategies,is hard
pressed in itscurrent stateto cope with these questions. The case of queerness, I will argue,
callsfora moredevelopedtheoryofcollective identityformation and itsrelationship to both
institutions and meanings, an understanding thatincludestheimpulse totakeapartthatidentity
fromwithin.
In explicating thequeerdilemmaand itsimplications forsocialmovementtheory, I first
brieflysummarize thecurrent stateofrelevantliterature on collective identity.Then,zeroing
in on the dilemma,I makeuse of internaldebates,largelyas theytookplace in theletters
columnof the weeklySan Francisco BayTimesin 1991, 1992,and 1993. I turninitiallyto
I am heedingrecentcallsto bringsociologyintocontactwithqueer theoryand politics
2. In thisdiscussion,
(Seidman1994). Ithastakena bitoftimeforsociologists tojoinqueertheoretical
andothersocialscientists discussions,
whichalthoughtheyemergedprimarily fromand throughhumanities scholars,couldhardlybe "imaginedin their
presentforms, absentthecontributionsofsociological (Epstein1994:2). On therelationship
theory" betweensociology
ofsexuality and queertheory,see also Steinand Plummer1994;Namaste1994.
3. I borrowthistermfromSeidman(1993).
4. See, forexample,Di Stefano(1990),Bordo(1990),and Davis(1991).
392 GAMSON

debateswithinlesbianand gaycommunities overtheuse oftheword"queer,"usingthemto

the of
highlight emergence queer its
activism, continuities
withearlierlesbianand gayactiv-
ism,and itslinkswithand parallelsto queertheory.Next,I takeup debatesovertheinclu-
sion of transgender and bisexualpeople- the twogroupsbroughtin underan expanded
queer umbrella - in lesbianand gaypolitics.HereI pointto a distinctive (althoughnot
entirelynew) element of a of
queerness, politic boundarydisruption categorydecon-
and
struction,and to theresistanceto thatpolitic,madeespecially
visiblebythegenderednature
of thesedebates.Finally,in drawingout ramifications forsocialmovementtheory, I briefly
demonstrate affinities
betweenthequeerdebatesand debatesovermultiracialism in African
Americanpolitics,arguingthatqueernessilluminates the coredilemmaforidentity move-
mentsmoregenerally.I concludeby suggesting waysin which socialmovement literature
can be pushedforward bytakingseriously, and empirical
bothas theoretical fact,thepredica-
mentofidentity movements.

Social Movements and Collective Identity

Socialmovements researchershave onlyrecently beguntreating collective
identitycon-
struction5 as an important and problematic movementactivity and a significantsubjectof
study.Beforethelate 1980s,whenrational-actor modelscameunderincreasedcriticalscru-
tiny,"notmuchdirectthought[had]beengivento thegeneralsociological problemofwhat
collectiveidentity is and how it is constituted" (Schlesinger 1987:236). As AlbertoMelucci
(1989:73) has argued,socialmovement modelsfocusing on instrumental actiontendto treat
collectiveidentity as thenonrational expressive residue of the individual, rationalpursuitof
politicalgain. And"evenin moresophisticated rationalactormodelsthatpostulatea collective
actormakingstrategic judgments ofcostand benefitaboutcollectiveaction,"WilliamGam-
son pointsout,"theexistenceofan established collectiveidentity is assumed"(1992:58,em-
phasis in original).Identities, in such models,are typically conceivedas existingbefore
movements, whichthenmakethemvisiblethroughorganizing and deploythempolitically;
feminism wields,butdoes notcreate,thecollectiveidentity of "women."
Melucciand othertheorists of"newsocialmovements" arguemorestrongly thatcollec-
tiveidentity is notonlynecessary forsuccessfulcollectiveaction,butthatitis oftenan end in
itself,as theself-conscious reflexivityofmanycontemporary movements seemsto demon-
strate.6Collective identity,in thismodel,is conceptualized as "a continualprocessofrecom-
positionratherthan a given,"and "as a dynamic,emergent aspectof collectiveaction"
(Schlesinger 1987:237,emphasisin original;see also Cohen 1985; Mueller1992; Kauffman
1990). Researchon ethnicity has developedalongsimilarlines,emphasizing, forexample,
the degreeto which"people'sconceptions of themselves alongethniclines,especiallytheir
ethnicidentity, [are] situationaland changeable"(Nagel 1994:154). "An AmericanIndian
mightbe 'mixed-blood'on the reservation," as JoaneNageldescribesone example," 'Pine
Ridge'whenspeakingto someonefromanotherreservation, a 'Sioux' or 'Lakota'when re-
spondingto the U.S. census,and 'NativeAmerican'when interacting withnon-Indians"
(1994:155; see also Padilla1985; Alba 1990; Waters 1990; Espiritu1992).

5. Collective is variously
identity defined.I am usingithereto designatenotonlya "status- a setofattitudes,
commitments, and rulesforbehavior- thatthosewhoassumetheidentity canbe expectedto subscribe to,"butalso
"an individual pronouncement ofaffiliation,
ofconnection withothers"(Friedman and McAdam1992:157).See also
Schlesinger (1987).
6. Thereis no reasonto limitthisclaimto "identity-based" movements, althoughidentity constructionis more
visibleand salientin suchmovements. As Taylorand Whittier arguein reviewing scholarship,
existing "identitycon-
structionprocessesarecrucialtogrievance in all forms
interpretation action,notjustin theso-callednew
ofcollective
movements" (1992:105).
 A QueerDilemma 393

How exactlycollectiveidentities emergeand changehas been thesubjectof a growing

body ofwork in the studyof socialmovements. Forexample,VertaTaylorand NancyWhit-
tier,analyzinglesbian-feminist communities, pointto the creationof politicizedidentity
communities throughboundary-construction (establishing"differencesbetweena challeng-
ing group and dominantgroups"),the developmentof consciousness(or "interpretive
frameworks") and negotiation("symbols and everyday actionssubordinate groupsuse to re-
sistand restructure of
systems domination")
existing (1992:100-111; see also Franzen1993).
Otherresearchers, working from the similarnotion that"thelocation and meaningofpartic-
ular ethnicboundariesare continuously negotiated, revised,and revitalized," demonstrate
thewaysin whichcollectiveidentity is constructed notonlyfromwithin,butis also shaped
and limitedby "politicalpoliciesand institutions,immigration policies,by ethnicallylinked
resourcepolicies,and bypoliticalaccessstructured alongethniclines"(Nagel1994:152,157;
see also Omi and Winant1986).
Whenwe turnto the disputesoverqueerness,it is usefulto see themin lightof this
recentwork. We are certainly witnessing a processof boundary-construction and identity
negotiation: As contestsover membership and over naming, these debates are partof an
ongoingprojectofdelineating the"we"whoserights and freedoms are at stakein themove-
ments.Yetas I trackthroughthequeerdebates,I willdemonstrate a movementpropensity
thatcurrentworkon collectiveidentity failsto take intoaccount: the driveto blur and
deconstruct groupcategories, and to keep themforeverunstable.It is thattendencythat
poses significant push socialmovementanalysis.
a new to

Queer Politics and Queer Theory

Sincethelate 1980s,"queer"has servedto markfirsta loose butdistinguishable setof
politicalmovementsand mobilizations, and seconda somewhatparallelset of academy-
bound intellectual endeavors(now callingitself"queertheory").Queer politics,although
givenorganizedbodyin theactivist groupQueerNation,operateslargelythrough thedecen-
local,and oftenanti-organizational
tralized, culturalactivism ofstreetpostering,parodicand
non-conformist self-presentation,and underground alternative magazines("zines")(Berlant
and Freeman1993; Duggan1992;Williams1993);7it has defineditselflargelyagainstcon-
ventionallesbianand gaypolitics.The emergenceof queer politics,althoughit cannotbe
treatedherein detail,canbe tracedtotheearly1980sbacklashagainstgayand lesbianmove-
mentgains,which"punctured illusionsofa comingeraoftoleranceand sexualpluralism;" to
theAIDS crisis,which "underscored the limitsofa of
politics minority rightsand inclusion;"
and to theeruptionof"long-simmering internaldifferences" aroundraceand sex,and criti-
cismof politicalorganizing as "reflecting a white,middle-class experienceor standpoint"
(Seidman1994:172).8
Queer theory,withrootsin constructionist history and sociology, feministtheory,and
philosophy,
post-structuralist tookshape throughseverallate 1980s academicconferences
and continuesto operateprimarily in eliteacademicinstitutions through highlyabstractlan-
guage; it has defineditself
largelyagainst conventional lesbianand gay studies(Stein and

7. QueerNation,formed in 1990,is an offshoot oftheAIDS activist

organization ACTUP. QueerNationowes
muchto ACTUP,in itsemergence, itspersonnel and tactics, tooccupyspaces,and to
whichareoftento "crossborders,
mimetheprivileges ofnormality"(Berlantand Freeman1993:195).On similartacticswithinACTUP,see J.Gamson
(1989). On Queer Nationspecifically and queerpoliticsmoregenerally, see Berubeand Escoffier (1991); Duggan
(1992); Stein(1992); Cunningham (1992); Patton(1993); Browning(1993,especiallyChapters2, 3, and 5).
8. See, forexample,Rich(1983); Moraga(1983); Hemphill(1991); Clarke(1983); Reid-Pharr (1993).
394 GAMSON

Plummer1994).9 Stein and Plummerhave recentlydelineatedthe major theoretical

departures of queer theory:a conceptualization of sexualpoweras embodied"in different
levelsof sociallife,expresseddiscursively and enforcedthroughboundariesand binarydi-
vides;"a problematization ofsexualand gendercategories, and identitiesin general;a rejec-
tionof civilrightsstrategies "in favorof a politicsof carnival,transgression, and parody,
whichleads to deconstruction, decentering,revisionistreadings, and an anti-assimilationist
politics;"and a "willingness to interrogateareaswhichwouldnot normally be seen as the
terrainofsexuality, and conductqueer 'readings'ofostensibly heterosexual or non-sexual-
ized texts"(1994:181-182).
Throughthesesimultaneous and tenuouslylinkedactions,then,the word"queer,"as
Steven Epsteinputs it, has recently"escapedthe bounds of quotationmarks"(Epstein
1994:189; see also Duggan 1992; Warner1993). Its escape has been markedby quite
wrenching controversy withinsexualidentity-based communities. To understand theuses of
"queer" and itslinks to and departuresfrom lesbian and gay activism it helpsto hearthese
controversies, herepresented primarilythrough theletterscolumndebatesover"TheYearof
theQueer."
Mydiscussion ofthisand thetwodebatesthatfollowis basedon an analysisof75 letters
in theweeklySan Francisco BayTimes, supplemented by relatededitorials fromnationalles-
bianand gaypublications.The letters wereclustered:The debateson theword"queer"ran
in the San FranciscoBay TimesfromDecember1992 throughApril1993; the disputesover
bisexuality ran from April1991 throughMay 1991; clashesovertranssexual inclusionran
fromOctober1992 throughDecember1992. Althoughanecdotalevidencesuggeststhat
thesedisputesarewidespread, itshouldbe notedthatI use themherenottoprovideconclu-
sivedata,butto providea groundedmeansforconceptualizing thequeer challenge.

WithExistingLesbianand
OverQueerness:Continuities
The Controversy
GayActivism
In thediscussionof the "Yearof theQueer"themeforthe 1993 lesbianand gaypride
celebration, the venomhitsfirst."Allthosedumbclosetedpeople who don't like the Q-
word,"theBayTimes "cango fuckthemselves
quotesPeggySue suggesting, and go to some-
bodyelse's parade." A man namedPatrickarguesalongthe same lines,asserting thatthe
menopposingthethemeare "notparticularly thrilled toothermen,"are
withtheirattraction
"crankyand upset,"yetwillingto benefit"fromthestuff do." A fewweeks
queer activists
assumeswe weretoobusyin the
later,a letterwritershootsbackthat"thisnew generation
'70s liningup at Macy'sto purchasesweatersto findtimeforthe revolution-asif their

9. Although socialconstructionist
thought generallyinforms queertheory, to distinguish
itis important different
strandsofconstructionist workand theirvarying contributionsto thedevelopment ofsexualtheory.Muchconstruc-
tionisthistory and sociology,whichconcerned "theorigin, socialmeaning, and changing formsofthemodernhomo-
sexual"and challengedessentialist notionsof homosexuality, was also "oftentiedto a politicsof the makingof a
homosexualminority" (Seidman1994:171;see,forexamples, D'Emilio1983;Faderman1981). Post-structuralist writ-
ingon genderand sexuality, althoughoftenlookingquitesimilar, tendsto "shiftthedebatesomewhataway from
explaining themodernhomosexualto questionsoftheoperation ofthehetero/homosexual binary, froman exclusive
preoccupation withhomosexuality toa focuson heterosexualityas a socialandpoliticalorganizing andfroma
principle,
politicsof minority to a politicsof knowledgeand difference"
interest (Seidman1994:192;see also Epstein1994;
Namaste1994;Warner1993;Hennessy1993).
It is thislatterstrandthathas moststrongly informed queertheory.Eve Kosovsky Sedgwick's Epistemologyofthe
withitsfamousassertion
Closet, that"an understanding ofvirtuallyanyaspectofmodemWestern culturemustbe,not
merelyincomplete, butdamagedin itscentralsubstance to thedegreethatitdoesnotincorporate a critical
analysisof
modernhomo/heterosexual definition"(1990:1),is now oftentakenas thefounding momentofqueertheory; Judith
Butler'sGender Trouble(1990a) also madea tremendous impactin thefield.Forfurther examplesofqueertheoretical
work,see Fuss1991;de Lauretis1991;Butler1993. Thesetheoretical and political
developments in thefieldoflesbian
and gaystudiesalso drawfromand overlapwithsimilaronesin feminism. See Ingraham(1994), and theessaysin
Nicholson (1990).
 A QueerDilemma 395

piercingsand tattooswere any cheaper." Anothersarcasticallyasks, "How did you ever miss
out on 'Faggot' or 'Cocksucker'?" On thislevel, the disputereads like a siblingsandbox spat.
Although the curses flysometimes within generations,many letterwritersframe the
differencesas generational. The queer linguistictactic,the attemptto defang,embrace and
resignifya stigmaterm,is loudly rejectedby many older gay men and lesbians.'0 "I am sure
he isn't old enough to have experiencedthat feelingof cringingwhen the word 'queer' was
said," says Roy of an earlierletterwriter.Anotherwriterassertsthat 35 is the age thatmarks
offthose acceptingthe queer label fromthose rejectingit. Youngerpeople, many point out,
can "reclaim"the word only because theyhave not feltas stronglythe sting,ostracism,police
batons, and baseball bats that accompanied it one generationearlier. For older people, its
oppressive meaning can never be lifted, can never be turned from overpowering to
empowering.
Consider "old" as code for "conservative,"and the dispute takes on another familiar,
overlappingframe: the debate between assimilationistsand separatists,with a long historyin
American homophile, homosexual, lesbian, and gay politics. Internalpoliticalstruggleover
agendas of assimilation(emphasizingsameness) and separation (emphasizingdifference)has
been present since the inception of these movements,as it has in other movements. The
"homophile" movement of the 1950s, forexample, began with a Marxist-influencedagenda
of sex-class struggle,and was quicklyovertakenby accommodationisttactics: gainingexpert
support;men demonstratingin suits,women in dresses."I Queer marksa contemporaryanti-
assimilationiststance, in opposition to the mainstreaminclusionarygoals of the dominant
gay rightsmovement.
"They want to work from within," says Peggy Sue elsewhere (Berube and Escoffier
1991), "and I just want to crash in fromthe outside and say, 'Heyl Hello, I'm queer. I can
make out withmy girlfriend.Ha ha. Live withit. Deal withit.' That kindof stuff."In a zine
called Rant & Rave,co-editorMiss Rant argues that:
I don'twantto be gay,whichmeansassimilationist, normal,homosexual.... I don'twantmy
behavior,beliefs,and desiresto be cut up likea pie intoneat littlecategoriesfrom
personality,
whichI'm notsupposedto stray(1993:15).
Queer politics,as Michael Warnerputs it, "opposes society itself,"protesting"not just the
normal behavior of the social but the idea of normalbehavior" (1993:xxvii). It embraces the
label of perversity,using it to call attentionto the "norm"in "normal,"be it hetero or homo.
Queer thus assertsin-your-facedifference,with an edge of defiantseparatism: "We're
here, we're queer, get used to it,"goes the chant. We are different, thatis, freefromconven-
tion, odd and out there and proud of it, and your response is eitheryour problem or your
wake-up call. Queer does not so much rebel against outsiderstatus as revel in it.'2 Queer
confrontationaldifference,moreover,is scary,writesAlex Chee (1991), and thus politically
useful:
NowthatI callmyself queer,knowmyself as a queer,nothing willkeep[queer-haters] safe.IfI tell
themI am queer,theygivemeroom.Politically, I can thinkoflittlebetter.I do notwanttobe one
ofthem.Theyonlyneed to giveme room.

10. Although itsmostfamiliarrecentusagehas beenas an anti-gay thewordactuallyhas a longand

epithet,
complexhistory. Alongwith"fairy,"forexample,"queer"was one ofthemostcommontermsusedbeforeWorldWar
II, "by'queer'and 'normal'peoplealiketo referto 'homosexuals.'"In the 1920sand 1930s,"themenwho identified
themselves as partofa distinct
categoryofmenprimarily on thebasisoftheirhomosexualinterest ratherthantheir
womanlikegenderstatususuallycalledthemselves queer"(Chauncey1994:14,16). Whether as chosenmarkeror as
epithet, thewordhas alwaysretaineditsgeneralconnotation ofabnormality (Chauncey1994).
beforeStonewall,
11. On assimilation-separation see D'Emilio(1983) and Adam(1987). On assimilation-separa-
tionafterStonewall,see Epstein(1987).
12. Indeed,the "outlaw"stancemayhelpexplainwhygenderdifferences are (somewhat)lesssalientin queer
organizing (Duggan1992).Whereasinethnic/essentialist lesbianandgayorganizations participants as gay
arerecruited
menand lesbianwomen, theyare recruited
in queerorganizations as gender
largely outlaws.
396 GAMSON

Thisgoes againstthe grainof civilrightsstrategists, of course,forwhom at least the

of
appearance normality is centralto gainingpolitical "room." Rightsaregained,according to
thislogic,bydemonstrating similarity(toheterosexual people,to otherminority groups)in a
nonthreatening manner. "We are everywhere," goes the refrainfromthiscamp. We are
yoursons and daughters and co-workers and soldiers,and once you see thatlesbiansand
gaysarejust likeyou,you willrecognizetheinjustices to whichwe are subject."I am not
queer," writesa writer
letter named Tony. "I am normal, and iftomorrow I chooseto run
downthemiddleofMarketStreetin a bigfloppyhatand skirtI willstillbe normal."In the
nationalgayweekly10 Percent - forwhichRant& Ravecan be seen as a proudeviltwin-
EricMarcus(1993:14) writesthat"I'd ratheremphasizewhatI have in commonwithother
peoplethanfocuson thedifferences," and "thelastthingI wantto do is institutionalize that
differencebydefining myself with a word and a politicalphilosophythat set me outside the
mainstream." The pointis to be not-different, not-odd,not-scary."We have a lotgoingfor
us," PhyllisLyonsayssimplyin the Bay Times."Let'snot blow it" - blow it, thatis, by
alienatingeach otherand our straight allieswithwordslike"queer."
Debatesover assimilation are hardlynew, however;but neitherdo theyexhaustthe
letterscolumndisputes.The metaphors in queernessare striking.Queer is a "psychictat-
too,"sayswriter AlexChee,sharedbyoutsiders; thosesimilarly tattooedmakeup theQueer
Nation."It'sthelandoflostboysand lostgirls,"sayshistorian GerardKoskovich(in Berube
and Escoffier 1991:23),"whowoke up one day and realizedthatnot to have heterosexual
privilege was in factthehighestprivilege."A markon theskin,a land,a nation:Theseare
themetaphors oftribeand family.Queeris beingusednotjustto connoteand glorify differ-
entness,butto revisethecriteria ofmembership in thefamily, "toaffirmsamenessbydefin-
ing a commonidentityon the fringes"(Berubeand Escoffier 1991:12; see also Duggan
1992).13
In thehandsofmanyletterwriters, in fact,queerbecomessimplya shorthand for"gay,
lesbian,bisexual,and transgender," muchlike "peopleof color"becomesan inclusiveand
difference-erasing shorthand fora longlistof ethnic,national,and racialgroups. And as
someletterwriters as
pointout, a quasi-national shorthand "queer"isjusta slightshiftin the
boundariesof tribalmembership withno attendant shiftsin power;as somelesbianwriters
pointout,itis as likelyto becomesynonymous with"whitegaymale" (perhapsnow witha
nose ringand tatoos)as itis todescribea newcommunity formation. Evenin itslessnation-
alistversions,queercan easilybe difference withoutchange,can subsumeand hidetheinter-
nal differences it attempts to incorporate.The queer tribeattempts to be a multicultural,
multigendered, multisexual, hodge-podge ofoutsiders; as StevenSeidmanpointsout,itiron-
icallyendsup
denyingdifferencesbyeither submerging themin an undifferentiated oppositionalmassor by
thedevelopment
blocking ofindividualandsocialdifferences through thedisciplining
compulsory
to remainundifferentiated
imperative (1993:133).

Queer as an identity
category in a
oftenrestatestensionsbetweensamenessand difference
different
language.

13. Thereis no questionthatpartofwhathas happenedwithqueeractivism is simplytheconstructionofa new,

ifcontentious, collective
identity:QueerNation,withitsnationalist is one clearexample.Mypoint,however
rhetoric,
(developedhere),is notthatqueerindicates a groupwithno boundaries, butthatit indicatesa strategy
foridentity
destabilization.Thislogicis notconfinedtoa particular
groupformation; althoughitis considerably in groups
stronger
identifyingas queer,manyofwhicharelooseassociations thatareveryintentionallydecentralized
(Williams1993),itis
also oftenpresentin moremainstream organizing,albeitin moreoccasionaland mutedform.Queeris moreuseful,I
am suggesting, ofa particular
as a description actionlogicthanas a description
ofan empirically
distinguishablemove-
mentform.
 A QueerDilemma 397
and Transgender:
DebatesOverBisexuality Politics
QueerDeconstructionist
Despitetheauraofnewness, then,notmuchappearsnewin recent debate;
queerness
thefaultlineson whichtheyarebuiltareoldonesin lesbianandgay(andotheridentity-
based) movements.Yetletterwritersagreeon one puzzlingpoint: Rightnow, it matters
whatwe are calledand whatwe callourselves.Thata wordtakesso prominent a place is a
clue thatthisis morethananotherin an ongoingseriesoftiredassimilationist-liberationist
debates.The controversy ofqueernessis notjust strategic
(whatworks),noronlya power-
struggle(whogets to callthe it
shots); is but
those, notonlythose.Attheirmostbasic,queer
controversies
arebattles andnaming
overidentity (whoI am,whowe are). Whichwords
usandwhendowordsfailus? Words,
capture andthe"us"theyname,seemtobe incritical
flux.
Butevenidentity
battles
arenotespecially
new.Infact,within
lesbian-feminist
andgay
maleorganizing,
themeaningsof"lesbian"
and"gay"werecontested
almost
as soonas they
beganto have politicalcurrency
as quasi-ethnic statuses.Womenof colorand sex radicals
loudlychallengedlesbianfeminism of the late 1970s,forexample,pointingout thatthe
"womansculture" beingadvocated(and activelycreated)was based in white,middle-class
experienceand promoteda bland,desexualizedlesbianism.Working-class lesbiansand gay
menofcolorhave consistently challenged"gay" as a term the
reflecting white
middle-class,
homosexualmenwho established itsusage (Stein1992; Phelan1993; Seidman1993, 1994;
Clarke1983;Moraga1983;Reid-Pharr 1993;Hemphill1991). Theyhavechallenged, thatis,
thedefinitions.
The ultimatechallengeofqueerness,however,is notjustthequestioning ofthecontent
of collectiveidentities,
but thequestioningoftheunity, stability, andpolitical
viability, of
utility
- evenas theyare used and assumed.4 Theradicalprovocation
sexualidentities fromqueer
politics,one whichmanypushingqueernessseemonlyremotely awareof,is notto resolve
thatdifficulty,butto exaggerateandbuildon it. It is an odd endeavor,muchlikepullingthe
rugout fromunderone's own feet,notknowinghow and whereone willland.
To zero in on the distinctive
deconstructionist politicsof queerness,turnagain to the
letterscolumns.It is no coincidencethattwoothermajorBayTimesletterscolumncontro-
versiesof the early1990s concernedbisexualand transgender people,the two groupsin-
cludedin therevisedqueercategory.Indeed,in hisanti-queerpolemicin themagazine10
Percent(a titlefirmly in itsreference
ethnic/essentialist to a fixedhomosexualpopulation),it
is preciselythesesortsofpeople,alongwithsome"queerstraights,"'5 fromwhomEricMar-
cus seeksto distinguish himself:
Queeris notmywordbecauseitdoesnotdefinewhoI am orrepresent whatI believein .... I'm a
man who feelssexuallyattracted to peopleofthesamegender.I don'tfeelattracted
to bothgen-
ders. I'm nota womantrappedin a man'sbody,nora mantrappedin a woman'sbody. I'm not
someonewhoenjoysorfeelscompelledtodressup in clothing oftheoppositegender.AndI'm not
a "queerstraight," a heterosexualwhofeelsconfined bytheconventionsofstraight
sexualexpres-
sion..... I don'twanttobe groupedundertheall-encompassing umbrellaofqueer... becausewe
have different lives,face different
challenges, sharethe same aspirations
and don'tnecessarily
(1993:14).

14. Thisquestioning is notentirely uniqueto recentqueerpoliticsbuthas historical tiesto earlygayliberation

callsto "liberate
thehomosexual in everyone" (Epstein1987).Thatthecurrent queerformulations havesuchaffinities
withearlierpolitical underlines
activity thatqueernessis lessa newhistoricaldevelopment thanan actionimpulsethat
comestotheforeat certain historicalmoments. Thereis certainly
a difference
in degree,however, betweenthestrength
ofa queer-style politicnow and in earlierdecades:Witha fewexceptions, earlierlesbianfeminist and gayliberationist
discourses rarelyquestioned"thenotionofhomosexuality as a universal
category oftheselfand sexualidentity" (Seid-
man 1994:170).
15. On "queerstraights," heterosexuals
self-identifying whoseekoutand participate in lesbianand gaysubcul-
tures,see Powers(1993).
398 GAMSON

The letterscolumns,writtenusually froma different politicalangle (by lesbian separatists,for

example), cover similarterrain. "It is not empoweringto go to a Queer Nation meetingand
see men and women slamming their tongues down each others' throats,"says one letter
arguing over bisexuals. "Men expect access to women," asserts one fromthe transgender
debate. "Some men decide that they want access to lesbians any way they can and decide
they will become lesbians."
Strikingly, nearlyall the lettersare writtenby, to, and about women-a point to which I
will laterreturn. "A woman's willingnessto sleep withmen allows her access to jobs, money,
power, status,"writesone group of women. "This access does not disappear just because a
woman sleeps with women 'too'... That's not bisexuality,that's compulsoryheterosexual-
ity." You are not invited;you will leave and betrayus. We are already here, other women
respond,and it is you who betrayus withyourback-stabbingand your silencing. "Whyhave
so manybisexual women feltcompelledto call themselveslesbiansforso long? Do you think
biphobic attitudeslike yours mighthave somethingto do with it?" asks a woman named
Kristen. "It is our community,too; we've worked in it,we've sufferedforit,we belong in it.
We will not accept the role of the poor relation." Kristenends her lettertellingly,deployinga
familiarphrase: "We're here. We're queer. Get used to it."'6
The letters run back and forthsimilarlyover transgenderissues, in particular over
transsexual lesbians who want to participatein lesbian organizing. " 'Transsexuals' don't
want to just be lesbians,"Bev Jo writes,triggering a massive round of letters,"but insist,with
all the arrogance and presumptionof power that men have, on going where they are not
wanted and tryingto destroylesbian gatherings."There are surelyeasier ways to oppress a
woman, other women shoot back, than to riskphysicalpain and social isolation. You are
doing exactlywhat anti-femaleand anti-gayoppressorsdo to us, others add. "Must we all
bringour birthcertificatesand two witnessesto women's events in the future?"asks a wo-
man named Karen. "If you feel threatenedby the mere existence of a type of person, and
wish to exclude them foryour comfort,you are a bigot,by every definitionof the term."
These "borderskirmishes"over membershipconditionsand group boundaries have his-
toriesprecedingthe letters(Stein 1992; see also Taylorand Whittier1992), and also reflect
the growingpower of transgenderand bisexual organizing.17 Althoughtheyare partlybattles
of position,more fundamentallythe debates make concretethe anxietyqueerness can pro-
voke. They spotlightthe possibilitythatsexual and gender identitiesare not the solid polit-
ical ground they have been thought to be-which perhaps accounts for the particularly
frantictone of the letters.
Many arguingforexclusion writelike a besieged borderpatrol. "Live your lives the way
you want and spread your hatredof women while you're at it,ifyou must,"writesa partici-
pant in the transgenderletterspree, "but the factis we're here, we're dykes and you're not.
Deal with it." The RevoltingLesbians argue similarlyin theircontributionto the Bay Times
bisexualitydebate: "Bisexuals are not lesbians-they are bisexuals. Why isn't thatobvious to
everyone? Sleepingwith women 'too' does not make you a lesbian. We must hang onto the
identityand visibilitywe've struggledso hard to obtain." A letterfroma woman named
Caryatissums up the perceived danger of queerness:
Thiswhole transsexual/bisexual assaulton lesbianidentityhas onlyone end, to renderlesbians
completely invisibleand obsolete.Ifa womanwhosleepswithbothfemalesand malesis a lesbian;
and ifa manwho submits to surgicalprocedureto bringhisbodyin linewithhisacceptanceofsex
rolestereotypes womanwhosespiritual
is a lesbian;and ifa straight bondsarewithotherfemalesis
a lesbian,thenwhatis a female-born femalewho lovesonlyotherfemales?Soon therewillbe no
logicalanswerto thatquestion.

debate,see Wilson(1992) and Queen (1992).

16. Formorebisexuality
oftheseyoung
17. Forarticulations see,onbisexual
movements organizing, andKaahumanu
Hutchins (1991),
andontransgender Stone(1991).
organizing,
 A QueerDilemma 399

Exactly:In lesbian(andgay)politics, as in otheridentity movements, a logicalansweris

crucial.An inclusivequeernessthreatens to turnidentity to nonsense,messingwiththeidea
thatidentities(man,woman,gay,straight) arefixed,natural,corephenomena,and therefore
solidpoliticalground.Manyarguments in theletterscolumns,in fact,echo thecritiquesof
identity politicsfoundin queer theory."Thereis a growingconsciousnessthata person's
sexualidentity (andgenderidentity) neednotbe etchedin stone,"writeAndyand Selenain
thebisexuality debate,"thatitcan be fluidratherthanstatic,thatone has therightto PLAY
withwhomeverone wishesto playwith(as longas it is consensual),thattheeither/or di-
chotomy('you'reeithergayor straight' is onlyone exampleofthis)is oppressiveno matter
who's pushingit." Identities are fluidand changing;binarycategories(man/woman, gay/
straight)are distortions."Humansare not organizedby natureintodistinct groups,"Cris
writes."We are placedin any numberofcontinuums.Few peopleare 100 percentgayor
straight,or totallymasculineor feminine."Differences are notdistinct,categoriesare social
and historical ratherthannaturalphenomena,selvesare ambiguous."Perhapsitis timethe
lesbiancommunity re-examined itscriteria ofwhatconstitutes a woman (or man),"writes
Francis."Anddoesitreallymatter?"Transsexual performer writerKate Bornstein,
and in a
Bay Timescolumn triggered by the letters,voices the same basic challenge. Are a woman and
a man distinguished by anatomy?"I know severalwomen in San Franciscowho have
penises,"she says. "Manywonderful menin mylifehave vaginas"(1992:4). Genderchro-
mosomes,she continues, are knownto comein morethantwosets("couldthismeanthere
are morethantwo genders?");testosterone and estrogendon'tanswerit ("youcould buy
yourgenderoverthecounter");neitherchild-bearing nor spermcapacitiesnailsdown the
difference ("does a necessaryhysterectomy equal a sex change?"). Genderis sociallyas-
signed;binarycategories(man/woman, gay/straight) are inaccurateand oppressive;nature
providesno rock-bottom definitions. The oppositesex,Bornstein proposes,is neither.'s
Indeed,it is no coincidencethatbisexuality, transsexualism, and gendercrossingare
exactlythe kindof boundary-disrupting phenomenaembracedby muchpost-structuralist
sexual theory.SandyStone,forexample,arguesthat"thetranssexual currentlyoccupiesa
positionwhichis nowhere,whichis outsidethebinaryoppositions of gendereddiscourse"
(1991:295).19 Steven Seidmansuggeststhatbisexualcritiqueschallenge"sexual object-
choiceas a mastercategory of sexualand socialidentity" (1993:123). JudithButlerargues
thatbutchand femme,farfrombeing"copies"ofheterosexual roles,putthe"verynotionof
an originalor naturalidentity" intoquestion(1990:123). MarjorieGarberwritesthat"the
culturaleffect oftransvestism is to destabilize all suchbinaries:notonly'male' and 'female,'
butalso 'gay'and 'straight,' and 'sex' and 'gender.'Thisis thesense-the radicalsense-in
whichtransvestism is a 'third'" (1992:133).
The point,oftenburiedin over-abstracted jargon,is well taken:The presenceofvisibly
transgendered people,people who do not quite fit,potentially subvertsthe notionof two
naturallyfixedgenders;the presenceof people withambiguoussexual desirespotentially
subvertsthe notionof naturally fixedsexual orientations.(I say "potentially" becausethe
morecommonroutehas continuedtobe in theotherdirection:thereification ofbisexuality
intoa thirdorientation, or the retention of male-female boundariesthroughthe notionof
transgendered peopleas "trappedin thewrongbody,"whichis thenfixed.) Genuineinclu-
sionoftransgender and bisexualpeoplecan requirenotsimplyan expansionofan identity,
buta subversion ofit. Thisis thedeepestdifficulty queernessraises,and theheatbehindthe
letters:Ifgay (and man) and lesbian(and woman)are unstablecategories, "simultaneously
possibleand impossible"(Fuss 1989:102),whathappensto sexuality-based politics?

18. Fora moredevelopedversionofthesearguments, see Bornstein (1994).

19. See also Shapiro(1991),on thewaysin whichtranssexualism
is simultaneously and conservative
subversive
ofsex and genderorganization.
400 GAMSON
Thequestionis easilyansweredbythosesecurely on eithersideofthesedebates.On the
one side,activistsand theoristssuggest thatcollective withexclusiveand secure
identities
boundariesare politicallyeffective. Even thoseagreeingthatidentities are mainlyfictions
maytakethisposition,advocating whatGayatriSpivakhas calledan "operational essential-
ism"(citedin Butler1990b;see also Vance1988). On theotherside,activists and theorists
suggestthatidentity production "is purchasedat thepriceofhierarchy, normalization, and
exclusion"and therefore advocate"thedeconstruction ofa hetero/homo code thatstructures
the 'socialtext'ofdailylife"(Seidman1993:130).

The Queer Dilemma

Theproblem, ofcourse,is thatboththeboundary-strippers and theboundary-defenders
are right.The gayand lesbiancivilrightsstrategy, forall itsgains,does littleto attackthe
politicalculturethatitselfmakesthe denial of and struggle forcivilrightsnecessaryand
possible. Marches on Washington, equal protectionpursuits, media-image monitoring, and
so on, are guidedbytheattempt to buildand provequasi-national and quasi-ethnic claims.
By constructing gaysand lesbiansas a singlecommunity (unitedby fixederoticfates),they
simplify complexinternaldifferences and complexsexual identities. Theyalso avoid chal-
the of
lenging system meanings that underliesthe politicaloppression:thedivisionof the
worldintoman/woman and gay/straight. On the contrary, theyratify and reinforce these
categories.Theytherefore builddistorted and incomplete politicalchallenges,neglecting the
politicalimpactofculturalmeanings,and do notdo justiceto thesubversive and liberating
aspectsof loosenedcollectiveboundaries.
Thusthestrongclaimsofqueerpoliticsand theory- thatthisis not how it mustbe,
thatpoliticaland socialorganization can and shouldbe moretrueto the inessential, fluid,
and multiply-sited characterof sexuality;and thatgay-ethnic movementsmake a serious
errorin challenging onlythe idea thathomosexuality is unnatural,affirming ratherthan
exposingtherootculturalsystem.
Yetqueertheoryandpoliticstendto runpasta critiqueoftheparticular, concreteforces
thatmake sexual identity, in stabilizedand binaryform,a basis fordiscipline, regulation,
pleasure,and politicalempowerment. In the hurryto deconstruct identity,theytend to
"slideinto viewingidentity itselfas the fulcrumof dominationand its subversionas the
centerofan anti-identity politic"(Seidman1993:132);thepoliticbecomesoverwhelmingly
cultural, textual,and subjectless.Deconstructive strategiesremainquitedeafandblindto the
very concrete and violentinstitutional formsto which the most logicalansweris resistance in
and througha particular collectiveidentity.
Theoverarching strategy ofculturaldeconstruction,theattackon theidea ofthenormal,
does littleto touchtheinstitutions thatmakeembracing normality (or buildinga collective
aroundinverted abnormality) bothsensibleand dangerous.Mall kiss-insby San Francisco's
SuburbanHomosexualOutreachProgram(SHOP) and otheractionsthat"mimetheprivi-
legesof normality" (Berlantand Freeman1993:196),"QueerBart"(Simpson,thepopular
cartooncharacter)T-shirts and otheractionsthat"revealto the consumerdesireshe/she
didn'tknow he/shehad, to make his/heridentification withthe product'homosexuality'
bothan unsettling and a pleasurableexperience"(Berlantand Freeman1993:208),do very
littleto takeon themoredirectly political:regulatoryinstitutionssuchas law and medicine,
forexample,thatcontinueto createand enforcegay/straight and male/female divisions,
oftenwithgreatphysicaland psychicviolence.Theydo notdo justiceto thedegreeto which
closinggroupboundariesis botha necessary and fulfillingsurvivalstrategy.
Interest-group politicson theethnicmodelis,quitesimplybutnotwithoutcontradictory
effects,how theAmericansociopolitical environment is structured. Official
ethniccategories
 A QueerDilemma 401

provide"incentives forethnicgroupformation and mobilization by designating particular

ethnicsubpopulations as targetsforspecialtreatment;" controlledresourcesare
politically
"distributed alongethniclines;"ethnicgroupsmeanlargervotingblocsand greaterinfluence
in electoralsystems(Nagel1994:157-159).Ethniccategories serve,moreover, as thebasisfor
discrimination and repression, bothofficial and informal, and thusas a logicalbasisforresist-
ance. This is the buriedinsightof the border-patrolling separatistsand the anti-queer
pragmatists: that here, in thisplace, at thistime, we need, for our safetyand forpotential
politicalgains,to construct ourselvesas a groupwhosemembership criteriaare clear.
The overwhelmingly femaleparticipation in theBayTimes disputesoverbisexuality and
transgender inclusionunderscores thispoint.Lesbiansareespecially threatened bythemud-
dyingofmale/female and gay/straight categorizations exactlybecauseitis bykeepingsexual
and gendercategories hardand clearthatgainsare made. Lesbianvisibility is morerecent
and hardwon; in struggles againstpatriarchal control, moreover, lesbianism and feminism
have oftenbeen strongly linked.20Gay men reactwithless vehemencebecause of the
stronger politicalpositionfromwhichtheyencounterthequeer challenge:as men,as gay
men witha moreestablished publicidentity.Justas theyare gainingpoliticalgroundas
lesbians,lesbiansare askednotonlyto shareitbutto subvertit,bydeclaring"woman"and
"lesbian"to be unstable,permeable, fluidcategories. Similarpitfalls wereevidentin the 1993
fightover Colorado'sAmendment 2, whichprohibits "thestateor any of itssubdivisions
fromoutlawingdiscrimination againstgay men,lesbians,or bisexuals"(Minkowitz1993).
The Coloradosolicitor general,as reporter Donna Minkowitzput it,made arguments "that
could have appearedin a queercorerant,"promoting "a remarkably Foucaultianview of
queernessas a contingent category, whosemembers can slipin and outofitsboundarieslike
subversive fish"(Minkowitz1993:27). "Wedon'thavea groupthatis easilyconfinable," the
solicitorgeneralargued.Here,thefluidity ofgroupboundariesand theprovisional natureof
collectiveidentity was usedto arguethatno one shouldreceivelegalbenefits orstateprotec-
tion-because thereis no discernible groupto be protected.Althoughthesolicitor-general-
as-queer-theorist is a strangetwist,the lessonis familiar:As long as membership in this
groupis unclear,minority status,and therefore rightsand protection, is unavailable.
Builtinto the queer debates,then,is a fundamental quandary:In the contemporary
Americanpoliticalenvironment, clearidentity categories bothnecessaryand dangerous
are
distortions,and movesto bothfixand unfixthemare reasonable.Althoughit comesmost
visiblyto theforein them,thisdynamicis hardlyuniquetolesbianand gaymovements.The
conflict betweena politicsof identity-building and identity-blurring has erupted,forexam-
ple, in recent debates in African American movements over multiracialism. When a group
lobbiedthe OfficeofManagementand Budget(whose 1977 Statistical Directiverecognizes
fourracialgroups),proposingthe additionof a "multiracial" classification,theywere met
withtremendousoppositionfromthosewho "see the Multiracialbox as a wreckingball
aimedat affirmative action,"sinceitthreatens to "undermine theconceptofracialclassifica-
tionaltogether" (Wright 1994:47;see also Omiand Winant1986;Webster1992;Davis 1991).
As one advocateputit,"Multiracialism has thepotentialforundermining theverybasis
forracism,whichis itscategories"(G. ReginaldDaniel,quotedin Wright1994:48); as one
observerput it, "multiracial people,becausetheyare bothunableand unwillingto be ig-
nored,and becausemanyofthemrefusetobe confined to traditionalracialcategories,inevi-
tablyunderminethe entireconceptof race as an irreducible difference betweenpeoples"
(Wright1994:49). Opponentsrespondvehemently to multiracial organizing, in partbecause
civilrightslaws are monitored and enforced throughtheexistingcategories.In a debatein
TheBlackScholar, African and Afro-American Studiesprofessor JonMichaelSpencerattacked
"thepostmodern conspiracy toexploderacialidentity," arguingthat"torelinquish thenotion

20. On lesbianfeminism, (1992),and Taylorand Rupp(1993).

see Phelan(1989),Taylorand Whittier
402 GAMSON

ofrace- eventhoughit'sa cruelhoax - at thisparticular

timeis to relinquish
our fortress
againstthe powersand that
principalities stilltryto undermine us" (in Wright1994:55).
form,is thesamequeerpredicament.
Here,in a different

Conclusion: Collective Identity,Social Movement Theory and the

Queer Dilemma
Buriedin theletters columncontroversies overa queerparadetheme,and overbisexual
and transsexual involvement in lesbianorganizations, are fightsnotonlyoverwho belongs,
butoverthepossibility and desirability ofclearcriteria ofbelonging.Sexuality-based politics
thuscontainsa moregeneralpredicament ofidentity politics,whoseworkings and implica-
tionsare notwellunderstood:itis as liberating and sensibleto demolisha collectiveidentity
as it is to establishone.
Honoring bothsetsofinsights fromthequeerdebatesis a tallorder.It callsforrecogniz-
ing that undermining identities is politicallydamaging in thecurrent timeand place,and that
promoting themfurthers themajorculturalsupportforcontinueddamage. It meansrecon-
nectinga critiqueof identity to the embodiedpoliticalforcesthatmake collectiveidentity
and and
necessary meaningful, reconnecting a critiqueof regulatory institutions to theless
of
tangiblecategories meaning that maintain and reproduce them.21
The neatestand mosttrueto lifemeansfordoingso - the theoretical recognition of
paradoxes and dialectics- can satisfy intellectually. a
Certainly political structure that di-
rectsactiontowardsethnicinterest groupclaims,and requirestherefore solidproofsof au-
thenticethnicmembership (the immutability of sexual orientation, forexample),creates
paradoxicalforms ofactionforstigmatized groups.In thecaseoflesbiansandgays,forexam-
ple,genderstereotypes used to stigmatize actors (thegaymanas woman,thelesbianas man)
have been emphasizedin orderto undermine them;pejorativelabelsare emphasizedin an
effort to getridof them.22But the recognition of paradox,whilea significant step,is too
oftena stoppingpointof analysis.I want to suggestpotentially fruitful paths forward,
throughresearchand theorizing thattakethequeerdilemmato heart.
The recent revivalof sociologicalinterest in collectiveidentity has broughtimportant
challenges to earlierassumptions that identities were eitherirrational (and irrelevant) or
antecedentsto action. Yet,even as theorizing has recognizedthatcollectiveidentities are
achievedin and through movement activity,theassumption has remainedthattheimpetus
to solidify, mobilizeand deployan identity is theonlyrationalone. The suggestion ofmost
socialmovementtheory, sometimes assumedand sometimes explicit,is that secure bounda-
riesand a cleargroupidentity are achievable,and even moreimportantly, that"ifa group
failsin [these],itcannotaccomplish anycollective action"(Klandermans 1992:81);withouta
solidgroupidentity, no claimscanbe made. Thesetheories havelittleto sayaboutthequeer
impulse to blur,deconstruct, and destabilize group categories.Current theoriestakeholdof
onlyone hornof thedilemma:thepoliticalutility ofsolidcollectivecategories.
Seriousconsideration ofqueernessas a logicofactioncan forceimportant revisionsin
approachesto collective identity formation and deployment and theirrelationship to political
gains. First,itcallsattention to thefactthatsecure boundaries andstabilized areneces-
identities
sary not in but
general, in the - a
specific point current socialmovement theorylargelymisses.
The linkbetweenthe two logics,the ways in whichthe Americanpoliticalenvironment

whichmake
and critiqueofqueertheoryand politics,
21. I am indebtedhereto StevenSeidman'sdiscussion
someofthepointsfromdifferent (Seidman1993;see alsoPatton1993,andVance1988).I wantto pushthe
directions
discussiontowardstheground,however,to openquestionsforpolitical research.
actionand empirical
22. On thisdynamic, Chapter8), Epstein(1987),and J.Gamson(1989).
see Weeks(1985,especially
 A QueerDilemma 403
makesstablecollectiveidentities bothnecessary and damaging, is sorelyundertheorized and
underexamined.
Moreimportantly, accommodating thecomplexity ofqueeractivism and theoryrequires
sociology to revisit the claim thatsocialmovements are in
engaged simplyconstructing col-
lectiveidentities.Queermovements pose thechallengeofa formoforganizing in which,far
frominhibiting accomplishments, thedestabilization
ofcollective
identity a goalandaccom-
is itself
plishmentofcollective action.Whenthisdynamicis takenintoaccount,new questionsarise.
The questionof how collectiveidentities are negotiated, constructed, and stabilized, forex-
ample,becomestransformed intoa somewhatlivelierone: forwhom,when,and how are
stablecollectiveidentities forsocial actionand social change? Do some identity
necessary
movements in factavoidthetendencyto takethemselves apart?
Investigating socialmovements withthequeerpredicament in mind,moreover, brings
attentionto repertoires and forms ofactionthatworkwiththedilemmain different ways. At
theheartof thedilemmais thesimultaneity ofculturalsourcesofoppression(whichmake
looseningcategoriesa smartstrategy) and institutional sourcesof oppression(whichmake
tightening categories a smartstrategy). Aresomemovements ormovement repertoiresmore
able to workwith,ratherthan against,the simultaneity of thesesystemsof oppression?
Whenand howmightdeconstructive strategiestakeaimat institutional forms, andwhenand
how can ethnicstrategies takeaimat culturalcategories?Aretheretimeswhenthestrategies
are effectively linked,when an ethnicmaneuverloosensculturalcategories,23 or when a
deconstructionist tacticsimultaneously takesaim at regulatory institutions?24
Such questionscan pointthewaytowardsnovelunderstandings and evaluationsofso-
cial movements in whichcollectiveidentity is bothpillagedand deployed.Thesequestions
are not a pathout of the dilemma,but a pathin. The factthatthe predicament may be
inescapable is, afterall, thepoint: first
to clearlysee the horns of the dilemma, and thento
searchout ways for understanding politicalactionstakingplace poised,and sometimes
skewered,on thosehorns.

23. Thepublicpursuit ofsame-sexmarriage andparenting maybe an exampleofthis.On theone hand,thecall

forinstitutions of "family" to includelesbiansand gays-as a recognizably separatespecies-is quiteconservative of
existinggenderand sexual categories.It oftenappearsas mimicry, and itsproponents typicallyappearas close to
"normal" as possible:Boband RodJackson-Paris, forexample,a former body-builder/model married couplewhohave
beenthemostpublicly availablesymbolofgaymarriage, arebothconventionally masculine,"traded vowsin a commit-
mentceremony, sharea housein Seattle,and planto raisechildren" (Bull 1993:42).
Yetgayfamilies, in attacking thegenderrequirements offamily forms, attacktheculturalgrounding ofnormality
at itsheart(as thereligious rightfullyrecognizes).Ifandwhenfamily institutions,
pushedbyethnic/essentialistiden-
titymovements, tointegrate
shift gaysand lesbians,theverymarkers ofgay/straightdifferencestarttodisintegrate(see
Weston1991). Ifbodilyeroticdesireimpliesnothing in particular abouttheuse of one's bodyforreproduction, its
usefulness as a basisofsocialcategoriesis largelygutted.In this,thegayfamily mayalsobe a queerone. Tothe
strategy
degreethatit succeeds,to thedegreethattheinstitution ofthefamily changes,thecategories mustalso losemuchof
theirsense-and theirpower.Thismaynotbe trueofall ethnic/essentialist actions.
24. The AIDS activist groupACTUP provides a promising startingpointfromthisdirection. ManyofACTUP's
tacticshavebeen discursive: meaningdeconstruction, boundary crossing,and labeldisruption (J.Gamson1989).Yet,
forreasonsobviously relatedtotheimmediacy ofAIDSand thevisibleinvolvement ofmedicaland stateinstitutions, it
has rarelybeenpossibletomaketheargument thatAIDSpolitics shouldhaveas itsgoalthedeconstruction ofmeanings
ofsex,sexualidentity, and disease.In muchqueerAIDSactivism, thedisruption ofthesemeanings takesplacethrough
directtargeting of theirinstitutionalpurveyors: not onlymediaand culturalinstitutions, butscience,medicine,and
government (Epstein1991).
Forexample,interventions intosomespaces(medicalconferences as opposedtooperahouses)putqueerness-its
sometimes scaryconfrontation, itsrefusalto identifyitselfas a fixedgayor lesbiansubject,itsdisruption of sex and
genderboundaries-touse in waysthatclearlymarkthedangers ofinstitutionalcontrolofsexualcategories.Refusing
thecategories foritself,thisstrategynamesand confronts theagentsthatfixthecategories in dangerous, violent,and
deadlyways. To thedegreethatthestrategy succeeds,to thedegreethatculturalcategories becomefrightening and
nonsensical, institutional actors- and notjustthevagueand ubiquitouspurveyors of "normality" - mustalso be
calledupontojustify theiruse ofthecategories.
404 GAMSON

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