What is homonormativity?
Before we can talk about homonormativity, we have to talk about heteronormativity. Simply put, heteronormativity assumes that every person is straight. Not just that they are straight, but their behavior and sexual orientation are in line with their gender which is in line with their genitalia (penis = male = acts masculine/likes women). Homonormativity applies those same theories to the gay community. In their article, "Questioning Homonormativity," Rick Braatz describes, "Our culture, I think, has to pin things down. They have to sort of define it and fix it in heteronormative terms." Homonormativity is not the same as heteronormativity in the sense that it does not assume that every person is gay; rather, it assumes that queer people want to be just like heteronormative people. Furthermore, it rewards the gay guys who "[mimic] heteronormative standards" (Flores).
HOMONORMATIVITY: "A politics that does not contest dominant heteronormative assumptions and institutions, but upholds and sustains them, while promising the possibility of a demobilized gay constituency and a privatized, depoliticized gay culture anchored in domesticity and consumption" (Duggan 2003)
Lisa Duggan is the primary scholar on all things homonormative. Learn more: http://www.sca.as.nyu.edu/object/LisaDuggan
Qualities of homonormativity
- common goals
Manifestations of homonormativity
- Marriage equality is understood to be the primary goal of the LGBT movement when many individuals who identify as queer would not agree with that prioritization. Some would argue that there are more pressing issues for the queer community, such as HIV/AIDS, or that sexual freedom is a more radical goal than marriage equality. Others criticize the institution of marriage because it is founded on the exclusion of non-heterosexual, non-normative couples, or because it continues to impose traditional power structures that cannot be solved by marriage equality. Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is frequently criticized for forwarding homonormative goals.
- The inclusion of queer people in the military amounts to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Although the passage of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is a step forward, many queer individuals continue to face stigma and violence in the military because of their gender identity and sexuality. Trans* individuals still cannot openly serve in the military.
- In February 2012, LOGO TV shifted its programming to reflect an assimilation of queer identities in the US.
- "Gay business districts"
- Gay tourism