Queer Intimacies: The Construction of LGBTQ Sexuality Outside of Normative Sexual Scripts

Abstract

The profusion of social sexual norms that center cisgender and heterosexual experiences leaves those who identify as LGBTQ without sexual narratives that are inclusive of their identities. This study examines how LGBTQ individuals negotiate sexuality outside of and in within cisheteronormative sexual scripts. This research consisted of 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews of LGBTQ-identified college students aged 18-23 at SUNY Purchase. Interviewees were asked questions about their identity formation, the interaction of their identities with their sex lives and sexual ideologies, and their sexual ideologies, practices, and desires. Six themes were identified: (1) the rejection of binary sexual categories, (2) an emphasis on communication, (3) feelings of comfort and safety with partners, (4) queer pre-sexual experiences, (5) trauma and its impact on sexuality, and (5) individual research into queer sexuality. These data help elucidate the complex tensions LGBTQ individuals experience while navigating the liminal space between proscribed social sexual norms and their own desires to build sexual modalities that meet their needs.