Catherine McPherson,
Hornsby Girls High School
Equality and Difference Prize
Growing up Straight: Heteronormative socialisation and its impact on Homosexual Identity Formation in a sample of gay men previously or currently in heterosexual marriages

My Personal Interest Project is an exploration of the psychological and psycho-social impacts of heteronormative socialisation on the identity development of my case study of my Dad, who came out last year.

His heterosexual marriage was, I believed, linked to a restrictive socialisation environment quite different to many of my gay friends my age, which resulted in an internalisation of social attitudes and values regarding sexuality. Thus I will investigate the impact of this socialisation on self-concept and homosexual identity formation, and the social changes over time that facilitate personal change and positive identity formation.

To research this, I used my Dad and other gay-married men as a case study, as heterosexual marriage is a substantial indicator of internalised homophobia resulting from heteronormative socialisation. I interviewed him on his socialisation, enculturation into the ‘queer’ community, and identity development.

The organisations my Dad was involved with gave me access to other gay married men (I decided not to include lesbian women in my PIP as this would complicate the report process). After writing a questionnaire mixing qualitative and quantitative questions, I proofed it with my Dad to make sure it would not be insensitive. I wrote out 20 stamped, self-addressed envelopes to address privacy concerns, and printed copies to be distributed at a gay and married men’s organisation’s monthly meeting. From this I gained 6 replies. As many of these men are still coping with internalised homophobia and fearful of being ‘outed,’ this was not surprising. In order to gain more responses I utilised the internet and an Australian forum of 140 members. Unfortunately, this only gained two extra responses, one of which I did not use as it was from overseas and thus outside of my case study. I believe the poor response rate is partially because as a high school student many may be wary of privacy concerns.

My third research method was qualitative, in comparison to the other highly qualitative methods. I circulated a questionnaire of 10 statements measuring level of agreement on a 1-5 scale of Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. My aim in this was not only to gauge current levels of homophobia, but to contrast that of older people and youth to demonstrate social change through age and different socialising environments. By distributing these to friends and family I gained a wide range of ages and perspectives, as well as receiving a high return rate due to feelings of obligation. I did not include answers for those under 16 due to the developmental tendency of 14-17 teenagers (particularly boys) towards higher levels of homophobia.

As I am a 17 year old heterosexual female exploring identity development in older homosexual men with different life experiences, the cross-cultural component of my PIP includes age and socialisation, sexuality, and gender. Through this, I learnt that even those who may appear socially privileged may feel socially isolated and powerless. Through researching the way people react to social pressures I have gained greater social and cultural literacy in my increased awareness of how homo and heterosexuality are presented by persons, institutions of family, the media, and religion, as well as society. I have also gained a greater understanding of my own socialisation and position in society.