Re-theorizing the Sexual Minority Closet: Evidence from Queer South Asian Women


Sonali Patel, University of British Columbia

Scholarship generally assumes the closet is a place of safety from the perceived risks associated with coming out. However, this overlooks its function as a source of violence, particularly for those belonging to multiple marginalized communities. This article investigates queer South Asian women’s (QSAW) experiences of the closet. Drawing on forty qualitative interviews with second and 1.5-generation QSAW in Canada, I offer a re-theorization of the closet as a dual site of safety and violence. My findings show that the convergence of sexual expectations of coming out with ethnic expectations of concealment exacerbates QSAW’s vulnerability to violence from family, the LGBTQ+ community, and intimate partners. Despite living a double life to reconcile these conflicting demands, QSAW experience micro-aggressive violence for being closeted and familial violence for not repressing their sexuality. Dating while closeted further jeopardizes QSAW’s safety. Ultimately, the results stress the dangers of pressuring QSAW to come out to their parents. The results are significant for understanding the intersectional complexities of sexual identity concealment, as well as culturally unique forms of it, such as privately engaging in queerness “behind closed doors.”

This paper will be presented at the following session: