The GLBTRT has been reviewing books and movies in its newsletter since the early 1990s. Trace the evolution of queer publishing through these historic reviews. This review was originally published in Vol. 4, No. 3, Fall 1992.
In Growing Up Gay in the South, James Sears looks closely at the lives of “sexual rebels,” gay and lesbian adolescents born in the 60’s and 70’s. In his study, he delved into the hearts and minds of 36 gay men and lesbians, all from South Carolina, to reveal their experiences of growing up and coming to terms with their own homosexuality. He examines the childhood and adolescence of a racially, socially and economically diverse group of young people within the contexts of church, community, school and family. The book presents data and observations on the 36 subjects, but the reader is presented with detailed portraits of 13 of those studied.
This book is not a compilation of “coming out” stories, but rather a sociological study of how a group of young people’s sexualities, world views and self-concepts influenced or were influenced by the social and cultural setting in which they grew up. All of this is looked at from five vantage points: religious life; race, gender and social class; the family; childhood feelings and behaviors; and high school/young adult experiences. By presenting individuals’ narratives together with his comments and conclusions, Sears contends that their “sexual identities are socially constructed.”
Each of the five vantage points is covered, beginning with an essay on the particular issue in question (church, family, etc.) as it relates to homosexuality in the Southern social and cultural context. The essays are accompanied by narratives of gay and lesbian youths about their experiences, observations, and impresssions of growing up gay or lesbian in their various worlds. These are followed by the author’s commentaries, which offer valuable insights into the subjects’ lives, relating many of their experiences and circumstances to research findings on similar case studies.
The extensive notes at the end of each chapter and the 60-page bibliography at the end of the book are evidence of the extensive research that went into this work. Throughout the book, Sears relates the findings of his research to other sociological studies which focus on the South, and in an appendix, presents his research methods, methodological issues and participant data. The book also includes a name and subject index.
This book is valuable as a study of issues and concerns gay and lesbian adolescents face growing up in a homophobic society. This reviewer, however, does take issue with the fact that this book’s focus on “The South” will likely serve to reinforce regional stereotypes and prejudices. The same type of study done in other parts of the country or across the country would have likely revealed few, if any, differences in how the family, religious and educational institutions, social nonns and peer pressures affect childhood and adolescent perceptions of and questions about one’s own homosexuality. Furthermore, this reviewer seriously questions the fact that the subjects that make up the sample are all from only one area of the South, one that is culturally rather homogeneous, WASPish and that has no sizeable urban centers. How can the data on this sample be used to make generalizations about a very large and extremely diverse region?
Several statements in the preliminary pages of the book support the premise that the problems faced by gay and lesbian youth are by no means unique to the South. The Foreword was written by Virginia Uribe, whose 1984 doctoral dissertation assessed the extent of services for gay and lesbian youth in the 10 largest school systems across the U.S. She states that her nationwide survey ” … revealed a pattern of homophobia in the education system that systematically damages gay and lesbian teenagers… ” In the Preface, Jonathan Kozol praises the book, also saying, ”But it is also an important portrait of the coming-of-age of all young people in this country.” The author himself refers to his experiences growing up in the rural Midwest, where straight, white church, family and community standards were imposed on him, and where he “…learned that homosexuality was sinfuI…” And finally, Walter Williams, in his emotional and laudatory Introduction, states that ” … despite the gains of the gay rights movement, growing up gay in the South is still as terrifying as ever.”He also suggests that “the South” does not yet “appreciate and value” the “wondrous diversity” of its population, such as is found in the varied backgrounds of Dr. Sears’ sample from South Carolina. It must be asked here if he truly feels that the problems of societal acceptance and support faced by gay and lesbian youths in Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Denver, or New York are really any different?
Although this reviewer makes these criticisms about the focus and point of the book, it IS a valuable piece of research into the complex lives of gay and lesbian youth in our culture. Indeed the fact that the findings in Dr. Sears’ study are representative of the homophobic climate of the entire nation is to the book’s credit. What the readers and others should be aware of is the fact that the book’s title and underlying premise suggest taking an alltoo-familiar regional stereotype as a “given.”
With this in mind, the book should be a valuable addition to the literature consulted by educators, scholars, social service professionals, as well as many others.
Reviewed by Steven Fowlkes
Tulane University
New Orleans, LA