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Article In:
Journal of Language and Sexuality
Vol. 14:1 (2025) ► pp.32–67

The case of Pete Buttigieg

A corpus-based discourse analytic study of gay identity construction in political speech

 | Arizona State UniversityTempeUSA
This research used online focus group discussions involving five Thai transgender participants and participants with various gender identities and sexuality to examine Thai transgender people’s articulations of gender, sexuality and senses of themselves. English was used as a lingua franca (ELF). A poststructuralist discourse analysis was used. The results illustrated that most Thai transgender participants were willing to articulate their genders and sexuality in a friendly and polite environment in intercultural communication. However, individual differences were found while initially articulating gender and sexuality over time in the same group discussion. In addition, the friendly and polite situational environment could trigger them to articulate more information regarding their gender and sexuality. Moreover, the five Thai transgender participants revealed their powerfulness as the self-identification of Thai transgender people in discourses, whereas their powerlessness was exposed in the theme of mental and social care.
Keywords: trans linguistics, homonormativity, Thai transgender, gender, sexuality, subjectivity, queer linguistics
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Situational framing and background explication
    • 2.1The LGBTQ+ community is not a homogeneous entity
    • 2.2Queers against Pete
  • 3.Analytical perspectives on non-heteronormative identities and political discourse
    • 3.1Linguistic approaches to examining the discursive management of non-heteronormative identities
    • 3.2Communicative approach — co-cultural theory
  • 4.Data collection and analytical approach
  • 5.Data analysis and key findings
    • 5.1Keywords and themes
    • 5.2Concordance lines
      • 5.2.1Equality
      • 5.2.2LGBTQ
      • 5.2.3Pence
      • 5.2.4Chasten
      • 5.2.5Afghanistan
      • 5.2.6Op-ed
      • 5.2.7Scripture
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Potential future research directions
  • References
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