Will There Ever Be a Post-Gay Identity?

Is the closet disappearing?  We know that the struggle for equal rights is ongoing and that much is left to be desired, but in just a handful of decades we've gone from sexual repression to sexual expression. We've established a widening presence in pop culture and have out and proud representatives in all corners of professional and political life.

So what's next? Will we reach a time when there will no longer be a need for separate bars or centers, bookstores or retirement communities? Will there ever be such a thing as a post-gay identity?

Some may argue the post-gay identity is upon us already. Take Iceland, for instance. Same-sex marriage was just recently made legal, but LGBTQ folks have been accepted socially there for years and alternative sexualities to a large extent have been normalized. The prime minister is an out lesbian – a first in global history. There is one designated gay bar located in the capital city, Reykjavik, and the only indication that it's gay on most nights is the rainbow painted on the pole in the middle of the dance floor. The bartender relayed that while there are plenty of gay people living in the small, arctic country, the gay bar sees a very mixed crowd, about half of which are gay-friendly straights. "Gay people just don't feel a need for a separate space here," he said.

Similarly in Holland, a country that is known as the birthplace and ongoing central repository for academic and otherwise research on sexuality and a general sociopolitical openness toward sexual expression. Equal rights for sexual minorities have been around for years and yet, in a city like Amsterdam with a diverse population, there exists only a handful of gay bars and only one lesbian bar. "Integration is the key," a visiting Dutch citizen told former gay media outlet Dyke TV about his home country. The question was asked in relation to Harvey Milk, the gay high school in NYC and the Dutch man’s feelings were strong that separate spaces created separated attitudes and that in Holland the sentiment was inclusivity.

While it may be difficult to wrap our brains around a post-gay identity in the U.S., let alone in countries on most other continents that may have eons to go before they will offer equal rights and protections for sexual minorities, if gains continue in linear-progressive fashion, we may well be headed for a truly global, post-gay identity.

Photo credit: Chando