Gay community

The gay community is a collective reference to those people in society who are homosexual. The term is also sometimes seen more broadly as including others whose sexuality or gender identity is outside the mainstream heterosexual norm.

History

The concept of a gay community is a relatively recent construct, whereby people who are homosexual, or, in broader terms, people who are of a GLBT sexual or gender orientation, are perceived as having some commonality of interest.

Prior to the Stonewall riots in New York City in 1969, there existed a less visible form of gay community that operated behind closed doors and was centered around socializing.

Dynamics

As with other collective groupings in society, the gay 'community' is comprised of many different individuals with many different individual circumstances in life, often with unique and very different personal backgrounds.

To suggest that there is a single 'gay community' necessarily subsumes the individual's experience into the collective representation, which is of course simplistic but nonetheless may be useful in considering how the lives of GLBT people can be different from - as well as the same as - the mainstream experience.

One common bond between most members of the gay community is the fact that homosexuality in most cultures is the exception rather than the social norm. This aspect of 'otherness' from mainstream society can create a commonality of experience that is shared by many members of the gay community across geographical boundaries, legal systems and cultural backgrounds.

The concept of a gay community is one that is on occasion both embraced as well as disrespected by many who might be considered to be members of it.

Some of the strongest and most visible affirmations of membership of a unified gay community occur in the context of annual GLBT community events, such as Pride and CSD events, where GLBT people gather to publicly celebrate their difference from the mainstream.

Some individuals who happen to be lesbian or gay prefer to not see themselves as forming part of the collective grouping known as 'the' gay community, although by interacting with it even to a limited extent in their daily lives they may nonetheless contribute to its existence.

Gay marketing is an area where the notion of a collective grouping of GLBT people is used to define an identifiable target group for marketing or consumer research purposes.

The future

As gay people become more integrated into society in some countries such as the United Kingdom with most of the same legal rights and responsibilities as heterosexual people, some have questioned the relevance of notions of a gay community.

Others see a continuing need for concepts of a commonality of interest between gay people across the world - as contained in the 'gay community' concept - especially in relation to some countries where homosexuality remains illegal.

Related topics

• Gay
• Gay marketing
• GLBT
• Lesbian
• Stonewall riots