”I’m here, I’m queer, get used to it” : En kvalitativ studie om strategisk öppenhet, stigma och identitetshantering bland homosexuella i mindre samhällen

Sammanfattning

The purpose of the study was to examine how homosexual individuals navigate different social settings in rural communities of Sweden, with regards to their openness and strategies for identity management, according to employees of RFSL. The theoretical framework of the study was based on Erving Goffmans (1986) theory of stigma and Jason Ornes “strategic outness” (2011). This was examined using questions on how openness is adapted to different social contexts, how stigma and heteronormativity affect identity management, how the process of coming out of the closet is understood in queer support work and the importance of RFSL rural areas. The study was conducted with a qualitative research approach wherein six semi-structured interviews were conducted with employees of RFSL in different parts of Sweden. The collected data was analyzed using a thematic analysis based on Braun and Clarkes (2006) six-phase framework. The results showed that homosexual openness is a socially situated and continuous process where individuals adapt their openness with regards to safety, social reactions and risks of stigmatization. Especially in rural societies, social control, fear of negative reactions and the lack of representation affected individual’s possibilities to be open with their sexuality. Simultaneously we found that RFSL:s local branches functioned as important safe spaces where individuals could express their identities without regard to society’s heteronormativity. The study also showed that openness can be understood as a strategic and social process where individual actions are shaped in relation to norms, stigma and social context. The results thus contributed to a deeper understanding of how homosexual individuals navigate between visibility and invisibility in everyday life in rural societies.