Heteronormativity - Homonormativity

Homonormativity

Homonormativity is the assimilation of heteronormative ideals and constructs into LGBTQ culture and individual identity. The term was used prominently by Lisa Duggan in 2003, although transgender studies scholar Susan Stryker has noted that it was also used by transgender activists in the 1990s in reference to the imposition of gay/lesbian norms over the concerns of trans people. According to Penny Griffin, Politics and International Relations lecturer at the University of New South Wales, homonormativity upholds neoliberalism rather than critiquing monogamy, procreation, and binary gender roles as heterosexist and racist. Duggan asserts that homonormativity fragments LGBTQ communities into hierarchies of worthiness. LGBTQ people that come the closest to mimicking heteronormative standards of gender identity are deemed most worthy of receiving rights. LGBTQ individuals at the bottom of the hierarchy (transsexuals, transvestites, intersex, bisexuals, non-gender identified) are seen as an impediment to this elite class of homonormative individuals receiving their rights.