“Straight-acting to the Front”: Investigating the Influence of a Sexually Normative Double-bind on Gay and Lesbian Students at a South African University Campus

Heteronormativity posits heterosexuality as the only acceptable and normal presentation of gendered and sexual identities. Similarly, homonormativity structures social life along heteronormative beliefs and ideals to construct conventional gay and lesbian identities. This article comments on a critical sociological exploration of the influences of these sexual normativities on the identity construction of gay and lesbian students at one campus of a South African university. Discourse was explored through a qualitative research paradigm focused on the lived experiences and reported narratives of gay and lesbian students. Three findings emerged from the data: first, how the participants socially constructed and performed their “ideal” gay and lesbian identities according to interrelated and mutually reinforcing hetero- and homonormative principles; second, these idealised typologies informed the social placement of gay and lesbian students on campus; finally, said ideals resulted in a so-called sexually normative double-bind that required gay and lesbian students to continuously navigate their membership of in- and/or out-groups on campus.