Meaning of Sexual Identity in the Twenty-First Century

“Something happened in the 1990s”; a group of people who were perceived as radical and “unmentionable” were transformed into a group of people who deserved human rights, and, if you looked close enough, were “normal,” just like everybody else (John D’Emilio (2002). Had a “post-gay era” (Ghaziani, 2011) begun? And if so, how might this impact on the meaning of sexual identity and a political movement steeped in identity politics? Have the LGBT youth of today been “duped into conformity because they believe the media’s representation of their lives?” (to quote Sarah Shulman). The articles gathered here address, from a wide variety of perspectives, the question of sexual identity for LGBT people in an era when sexual identity is seen by some as obsolescent. In the opening essay, Ritch Savin-Williams asks whether “young people with same-sex desires are basically content with modern culture and don’t desire a critical analysis.” This volume considers this question and others in relation to identity, fluidity, ambisexuality, a reluctance to label sexuality, and the possible irrelevance of sexual orientation in the 21st century. Contributors explore postulations in contexts that include same-sex topics in high school teaching; rural queers; the nature of art installations and same-sex desires; post-AIDS literature; contemporary Russian film and online chat rooms; and the Boy Scouts of America. The essays offer compelling debates about the current state of the discourse about sexual identity in the 21st century.