UC Riverside UC Riverside Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Heretical Queers: Gay Participation in Anti-Gay Institutions Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1wp0j20r Author Radojcic, Natasha Publication Date 2015 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Heretical Queers: Gay Participation in Anti-Gay Institutions A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology by Natasha Radojcic June 2015 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Katja Gunether, Chairperson Dr. Karen Pyke Dr. Ellen Reese Copyright by Natasha Radojcic 2015 The Dissertation of Natasha Radojcic is approved: Committee Chairperson University of California, Riverside ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Heretical Queers: Gay Participation in Anti-Gay Institutions by Natasha Radojcic Doctor of Philosophy, Graduate Program in Sociology University of California, Riverside, June 2015 Dr. Katja Guenther, Chairperson This dissertations examines gay participation in anti-gay institutions, notably the Roman Catholic Church and the Republican Party. Using a comparative ethnographic approach, I explore Dignity, a group for gay Roman Catholics, and the Log Cabin Republicans, a group for gay Republicans in order to understand how members cope with marginalization they encounter in both the Church/Republican Party and the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) Community. I demonstrate that participants in these groups are simultaneously members of dominant and subordinate populations that draw on their racial, gender, and class based privilege to deal with the marginalization they experience. Accordingly, this dissertation shows how systems of inequality are replicated within the LGBT Community and within the Roman Catholic Church and the Republican Party. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: GAY PARTICIPATION IN ANTI-GAY INSTITUTIONS ............................................ 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 1 BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE ........................................................................................................... 3 RESEARCH METHODS AND DESIGN: CASE SELECTION ............................................................................... 8 Dignity .............................................................................................................................................. 12 Log Cabin Republicans ..................................................................................................................... 14 RESEARCH METHODS AND DESIGN: FIELDWORK STRATEGY ................................................................... 18 Observation, Content Analysis, and Interviews.................................................................................. 21 Challenges in the Field ..................................................................................................................... 24 HERETICAL QUEERS, DIGNITY, AND THE LOG CABIN REPUBLICANS ....................................................... 28 CHAPTER 2: HERETICAL QUEER IDENTITY ............................................................................... 42 WHO ARE MEMBERS OF DIGNITY?......................................................................................................... 43 WHO ARE MEMBERS OF THE LOG CABIN REPUBLICANS? ........................................................................ 46 CONFLICTING IDENTITIES? ..................................................................................................................... 48 ACTIVISTS, RIGHTS, AND THE “RIGHT” KIND OF GAY ............................................................................. 54 Heretical Queers as Activists ............................................................................................................ 55 It’s My Right ..................................................................................................................................... 58 Countering Gay Stereotypes .............................................................................................................. 59 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................... 61 CHAPTER 3: COPING WITH STIGMA IN THE LGBT COMMUNITY ......................................... 69 STIGMA AND THE LGBT RIGHTS MOVEMENT ........................................................................................ 71 DOUBLE MINORITIES ............................................................................................................................. 75 Challenges in Recruitment ................................................................................................................ 75 Celebrating LGBT Identity ................................................................................................................ 79 Interpersonal Interactions ................................................................................................................. 82 STIGMA MANAGEMENT ......................................................................................................................... 87 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................... 92 CHAPTER 4: COING WITH HOMOPHOBIA IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND REPUBLICN PARTY .................................................................................................................................................. 108 INEQUALITY IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND REPUBLICAN PARTY ........................................... 111 REPLICATING INEQUALITY ................................................................................................................... 113 COPING WITH HOMOPHOBIA ............................................................................................................... 115 Mechanism One: Overlooking Homophobia .................................................................................... 116 Mechanism Two: Minimizing Inequality in the Church and Republican Party ................................. 120 Mechanism Three: Rationalization .................................................................................................. 122 Mechanism Four: Conforming to Institutional Norms ..................................................................... 126 Mechanism Five: Defensive Othering.............................................................................................. 129 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................... 136 CHAPTER 5: DIGNITY, THE LOG CABIN REPUBLICANS, AND THE LGBT RIGHTS MOVEMENT ....................................................................................................................................... 147 A TURNING POINT FOR THE LGBT RIGHTS MOVEMENT ....................................................................... 147 v THE LGBT RIGHTS MOVEMENT TODAY .............................................................................................. 148 MAINSTREAMING THE TRANS MOVEMENT ........................................................................................... 158 WHAT DO TRANS RIGHTS MEAN FOR THE LGBT RIGHTS MOVEMENT?................................................ 160 HERETICAL QUEERS AND THE LGBT RIGHTS MOVEMENT MOVING FORWARD ..................................... 164 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................... 166 CHAPTER 6: THE FUTURE OF HERETICAL QUEERS ............................................................... 173 SHEDDING LIGHT ON HERETICAL QUEERS ............................................................................................ 174 PRIVILEGE AND POWER AMONG HERETICAL QUEERS ........................................................................... 176 HERETICAL QUEERS AND THE LGBT RIGHTS MOVEMENT.................................................................... 178 UNDERSTANDING HERETICAL GROUPS ................................................................................................ 180 RESEARCH LIMITATIONS ...................................................................................................................... 182 HERETICAL QUEERS MOVING FORWARD.............................................................................................. 184 vi Chapter One: Gay Participation in Anti-Gay Institutions Introduction Why would members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community attempt to work within and be part of institutions that appear firmly committed to curtailing their rights? Both the Roman Catholic Church and the Republican Party share long histories of supporting anti-gay policies and beliefs, and continue to oppose equal rights for members of the LGBT community, making it difficult for some to understand the reasons LGBT people continue to participate in these anti-gay institutions. This research seeks to resolve this puzzle by examining the experiences of LGBT people who participate in organizations that are pushing for the acceptance of sexual minorities in the Catholic