Interview: Queer Culture

Hannah's friend, Katie, talked to us about being gay in a predominately straight world. Although her parents have been very supportive, there are still many prejudices she faces due to her orientation.


Visitor: What is your name?
Katie: Katie Hodge

What is your sex?
Biologically female

What is your orientation?
Uhhh...I'm queer.

Was your family accepting of you coming out?
Yes, extremely. There were a lot of tears on my part when "coming out." I told my mom I was gay when I was 13. She said, "Oh God, I thought you were on drugs. What a relief, we've known you'd be gay since you were in kindergarten." I'm very lucky and very thankful.

Where others (school, work, hometown, etc.)
For the most part I feel that my friends were accepting. However, somehow I think that it was "okay" for me to be gay because I was "entertaining" or "funny" -- maybe my identity somehow became erased in humor. Or something like that.

Are you comfortable telling people about your orientation?
Yes, absolutely. Absolutely, yes.

Have you ever faced discrimination for being gay?
Yes. People treat me differently. I feel that a lot of men I'm friends with think they can talk with me very graphically about women they've been with. People automatically treat me differently because they think I'm more masculine since I'm queer. There's some kind of social perception about queer women.

Have you ever been made fun of?
Yes. Mostly from friends who are supportive, but give me a hard time because they think it's okay to pick on me. But it's hard to differentiate between humor and offensive remarks.

Have you ever been threatened or physically hurt?
well.. once when I was in high school some girl said she didn't want to sit at my table "because I was a dyke"... and one of my friends stood up and punched her. Another time, I was at a movie theater and someone asked me if I was a lesbian. I told him it was "none of his fucking business, because it doesn't matter" and that was the end of it. Again, I have been very lucky.

What are your concerns about the future?
Being in a serious relationship with a woman and wanting to marry her and not being able to...or wanting a family and having my children (if I ever want children) being discriminated against because they have two female parental figures.

Do you think most homosexuals are promiscuous?
"Homosexual" is a term I have a lot of problems with -- it sounds so clinical and so medicalized. But, aside from that -- I feel that the queer/gay people I know are promiscuous, however, all the straight people I know are promiscuous as well -- promiscuity (in my mind) has nothing to do with sexuality or orientation and everything to do with our generation.

Do you feel like the government supports you?
Not at all. Not one fucking bit.

Do you feel like you have the same rights as an average American?
No! Not at all. I mean -- there are over a thousand rights that Gay Americans are not awarded in comparison to straight Americans, even though I contribute and pay my taxes in the exact same way.

Do you feel like there are any advantages to being gay?
I mean personally I feel like there are a lot of advantages. For me like, I am so comfortable with my sexual identity and think that there is something very powerful about being with another woman and being in a relationship with another woman. And there's something very special about it thats hard to articulate but I know that it's there. Thats how I know it's special, because I can't articulate it.

Do you feel like there are any disadvantages?
The majority of people you encounter in the South are fucking bigots. And I'm from the south and I love the south and so that's a disadvantage because people don't understand. And thinking outside of the nuclear family is not something that the general population is taught to do. My entire family is from Gastonia, North Carolina and I want them to know about me and the history of my culture but I know that that isn't a reality because of their environment. But -- even in this homophobic climate of the South -- I know that I am me. I know that I am true to myself and that is all that I can offer. I am proud of that.