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Part of
Singing, Speaking and Writing Politics: South African political discourses
Edited by Mirjana N. Dedaić
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 65] 2015
► pp. 147–167

From sexual deviants to politically emancipated queers

Changing representations of gay and lesbian identities in South Africa

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This chapter investigates the evolving representation of gay and lesbian identities in three non-fiction books: Male Homosexuality (1992), Defiant Desire (1994), and Tommy Boys (2005). This study tracks how the representations of gay and lesbian identities change as political and public discourses about homosexual issues progress (or not) in a post-apartheid South Africa. The study reveals how the representations of homosexual identities evolve from the limiting but important exploration of white middle class urban males to an exploration of black working class lesbians and gay men, white working class gay men and white middle class lesbians from different geographical regions in South Africa and Africa.
Keywords: gay, lesbian, political discourse, South Africa
Published online: 30 October 2015
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https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.65.07mcc
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