Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Sociology Dissertations Department of Sociology 8-12-2016 Red, White, and Gay?: American Identity, White Savior Complex, and Pink Policing Marik Xavier-Brier Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/sociology_diss Recommended Citation Xavier-Brier, Marik, "Red, White, and Gay?: American Identity, White Savior Complex, and Pink Policing." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2016. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/sociology_diss/87 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Sociology at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Sociology Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RED, WHITE, AND GAY?: AMERICAN IDENTITY, WHITE SAVIOR COMPLEX, AND PINK POLICING by MARIK XAVIER-BRIER Under the Direction of Wendy Simonds, PhD ABSTRACT In this dissertation, I examine the internal divisions in LGBT/Q communities. I illustrate how the notion of a single, unified community is not only fictive, but counter to the goals of liberation. Utilizing critical discourse analysis, I examine cultural artifacts of the contemporary gay rights movement to determine who has the power to shape domestic and international gay rights discourse. I analyze the role of gay citizenship through the same-sex marriage debates, the creation of the homonational soldier, and how gay rights is employed in international conflicts to strategically promote some countries as progressive, while denouncing others as backwards. I argue that the gay rights movement does not address the needs of all members of LGBT/Q communities, but rather, focuses on the wants of the elite and privileged. Despite recent advances, the gay rights movement has been stunted by a limited and marginalizing focus on normalization. Lastly, I present a queer perspective on gay rights and reimagine a movement that is more courageous and inclusive. INDEX WORDS: Homonormativity, Queer, LGBT Rights, Homonationalism, Sexual Citizenship RED, WHITE, AND GAY?: AMERICAN IDENTITY, WHITE SAVIOR COMPLEX, AND PINK POLICING by MARIK XAVIER-BRIER A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2016 Copyright by Marik Xavier-Brier 2016 RED, WHITE, AND GAY?: AMERICAN IDENTITY, WHITE SAVIOR COMPLEX, AND PINK POLICING by MARIK XAVIER-BRIER Committee Chair: Wendy Simonds Committee: Rosalind Chou Maura Ryan Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University August 2016 iv DEDICATION To all the queers who live boldly, beautifully and unapologetically. And for those whose lives have been cut too short. Let’s recreate the world together. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation has been a labor of love and could have never been completed without the support and encouragement by such amazing and brilliant people. First, I would like to extend my extreme thanks and unwavering respect for my chair, Dr. Wendy Simonds. Wendy’s critical eye has pushed my writing to a new level and helped shaped this project that began as a collection of nebulous ideas into a finished product that I am truly proud of. Her steadfast confidence in me during graduate school is something that I will always be thankful for. I am indebted to Dr. Maura Ryan who welcomed me as a colleague and friend. Our many conversations about queer politics and our shared frustrations with the inequities in society have shaped me into a better scholar and a more impassioned activist. I am grateful for her fierceness, her femme politics, and her ability to offer insightful questions. I am also extremely appreciative of Dr. Rosalind Chou for her intellectual insights and unwavering support in me and this project. Her warm professionalism and shared hope of rethinking a queer future helped imagine this project and what lies beyond it. Of course I could not have achieved this much without the love and support of my family. First to my closest and dearest friend, Ignatious, who has tirelessly listened to my many ramblings, lovingly criticized and workshopped my ideas, and who has been my anchor through everything. You have been there throughout the emotional journey that is graduate school and I can never explain how much your support and encouragement has meant to me. To my loving parents who have encouraged my dreams, even if not always fully understanding them, I am sincerely and eternally grateful for your love and support. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. v LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... ix 1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Irreconcilable Differences ................................................................................ 2 1.2 Key Concepts ..................................................................................................... 4 1.2.1 Homonormativity ........................................................................................... 4 1.2.2 Neoliberalism ................................................................................................. 6 1.2.3 Neocolonialism ............................................................................................... 7 1.2.4 Homonationalism ........................................................................................... 8 1.3 A Theoretical Map .......................................................................................... 10 1.4 (Re)thinking Community ............................................................................... 12 1.4.1 The Issue with “We” .................................................................................... 14 1.5 Data Collection and Methods ......................................................................... 21 1.6 Layout of the dissertation ............................................................................... 28 2 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LGBT/Q RIGHTS MOVEMENT ..................... 31 2.1 The Split ........................................................................................................... 34 2.1.1 AIDS Crisis ................................................................................................... 39 2.2 Current LGBT/Q politics ............................................................................... 42 3 GOING TO THE CHAPEL: GAY RIGHTS GETS HITCHED........................ 48 vii 3.1 Context of the Gay Marriage Debate ............................................................ 50 3.1.1 Proposition 8 ................................................................................................ 56 3.2 Gay Marriage Enters the Culture Wars ....................................................... 74 3.3 Gay Rights as Cultural Capital ..................................................................... 82 3.3.1 Capitalism and Gay Rights .......................................................................... 91 3.3.2 Gay Rights and Symbolism ........................................................................ 101 3.4 Marriage is a Conservative Value ............................................................... 108 4 GAYS GO TO WAR AND THE CREATION OF THE HOMONATIONAL SOLIDER ................................................................................................................................. 117 4.1 History of Gays in the Military .................................................................... 118 4.1.1 Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell ................................................................................. 121 4.1.2 After DADT ................................................................................................ 127 4.2 Stand and Deliver .......................................................................................... 136 4.3 Homonational Soldiers ................................................................................. 143 5 HOMO-COLLUSION AND THE LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE STATE ....... 149 5.1 American Exceptionalism ............................................................................ 150 5.1.1 United Nations Declaration ....................................................................... 156 5.2 Sexual Exceptionalism .................................................................................. 164 5.2.1 War on Terror ............................................................................................ 165 5.3 White Savior Industrial Complex................................................................ 174 viii 5.3.1 Sochi ........................................................................................................... 175 5.3.2 Uganda ....................................................................................................... 183 5.4 Pinkwashing................................................................................................... 199 6 QUEER (RE)IMAGININGS................................................................................ 209 6.1 What Bodies Belong? .................................................................................... 212 6.1.1 Bringing