The main aim of this article is to describe the identification process of a 19-year-old Norwegian gay man. The analysis focuses on becoming a gay subject to discourse, articulation of identities and risks related to such subjectivation. Four discourses of gay identities are identified: a possibly heteronormative homosexual identity related to anal sex with men; an essentialist gay identity based on an idea of a stable homosexual core; a constructivist gay subjectivity related to a gay lifestyle where being happy and beautiful are central demands; and a self-understanding echoing a `queer' rejection of identity labels. These identities may be related to certain types of psychosocial risks for gay young people: risk of sexual abuse; pressure to come out of the closet; anti-gay harassment; illegal drug use or problems related to mental health and social support.
Butler, Judith (1991) `Imitation and Gender Insubordination', in Diana Fuss (ed.) Inside/Out: Lesbian Theories, Gay Theories, pp.13—31. New York: Routledge.
2.
Cass, Vivienne C. (1979) `Homosexual Identity Formation: A Theoretical Model ', Journal of Homosexuality4(3): 219—35.
3.
Cohler, Bertram J. and Galatzer-Levy, Robert M. (2000) The Course of Gay and Lesbian Lives: Social and Psychoanalytic Perspectives. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
4.
Coleman, Eli (1981) `Developmental stages of the coming out process ', Journal of Homosexuality7(2—3): 31—43.
5.
Epstein, Steven (1987) `Gay Politics, Ethnic Identity: The Limits of Social Constructionism', Socialist Review93—4(May—August): 9—54.
6.
Erikson, Erik H. (1992[1968]) Identitet: Ungdom og kriser [Identity: Youth and Crisis]. København: Hans Reitzels Forlag.
7.
Fergusson, D.M., Horwood, L.J. and Beautrais, A.L. (1999) `Is Sexual Orientation Related to Mental Health Problems and Suicidality in Young People?' Archives of General Psychiatry 56(10): 876—80.
8.
Fuss, D. (1989). Essentially Speaking: Feminism, Nature and Difference . New York: Routledge.
9.
Hall, Stuart (1996) `Introduction: Who Needs Identity?' in Stuart Hall and Paul Du Gay (eds) Questions of Cultural Identity, pp.1—17. London: Sage Publications.
10.
Hegna, Kristinn, Kristiansen, Hans W. and Moseng, Bera (1999) Levekår og livskvalitet blant lesbiske kvinner og homofile menn [Living conditions and quality of life among lesbians and gay men in Norway]. NOVA Report1/99. Oslo: Norwegian Social Research.
11.
Herdt, Gilbert H. and Boxer, Andrew (1996) Children of Horizons: How Gay and Lesbian Teens are Leading a New Way out of the Closet. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
12.
Hostetler, Andrew J. and Herdt, Gilbert H. (1998) `Culture, Sexual Lifeways, and Developmental Subjectivities: Rethinking Sexual Taxonomies', Social Research65(2): 249—90.
13.
Jenness, Valerie (1992) `Coming out: Lesbian Identities and the Categorization Problem', in Ken Plummer (ed.) Modern Homosexualities: Fragments of Lesbian and Gay Experience, pp. 65—74. London: Routledge.
14.
Kristiansen, Hans W. and Pedersen, Willy (2004) `Når skeiv teori blir levd liv', Samtiden2: 79—87. English version available at URL (accessed 20 March 2006): http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2004—07—06-kristiansen-en.html
15.
McAdams, Dan (1985) Power, Intimacy and the Life Story. New York: Guildford Press.
16.
Middelthon, Anne-Lise (1997) `Sexual Debut and the Risk of HIV Infection among Young Gay Men in Norway', in Peter Aggelton, Peter Davies and Graham Hart (eds) AIDS: Activism and Alliances, pp.100—21. London : Taylor and Francis.
17.
Middelthon, Anne-Lise (2001) `Being Young and Gay in the Context of HIV: A Qualitative Study among Young Norwegian Gay Men', PhD thesis, University of Oslo. Oslo: Faculty of medicine, University of Oslo.
18.
Morris, Jessica F. (1997) `Lesbian Coming Out as a Multidimensional Process ', Journal of Homosexuality33(2): 1—22.
19.
Pedersen, Willy (2005) Nye seksualiteter [New sexualities]. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
20.
Plummer, Ken (1995) Telling Sexual Stories. Power, Change and Social Worlds. London: Routledge.
21.
Rasmussen, Mary L. (2006) Becoming Subjects. Sexualities and Secondary Schooling . New York: Routledge.
22.
Remafedi, Gary, French, Simone, Story, Mary, Resnick, Michael D. and Blum, Robert (1998) `The Relationship between Suicide Risk and Sexual Orientation: Results of a Population-Based Study', American Journal of Public Health88: 57—60.
23.
Rosenfeld, Dana (1999) `Identity Work among Lesbian and Gay Elderly', Journal of Aging Studies13(2): 121—44.
24.
Rubin, Gayle (1993 [1984]) `Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality', in Henry Abelove, Michele A. Barale and David M. Halperin (eds) The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader, pp. 3—44. New York: Routledge.
25.
Sandfort, T.G.M., de Graaf, R., Bijl, R.V. and Schnabel, P. (2001) `Same-Sex Sexual Behavior and Psychiatric Disorders — Findings from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study (NEMESIS)', Archives ofGeneral Psychiatry58(1): 85—91.
26.
Savin-Williams, Ritch C. (1998) And then I became Gay: Young Men's Stories. New York: Routledge.
27.
Savin-Williams, Ritch C. (2005) The New Gay Teenager. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
28.
Sedgwick, Eve K. (1993 [1990]) `Epistemology of the Closet ', in Henry Abelove, Michele A. Barale and David M. Halperin (eds) The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader, pp. 45—61. New York: Routledge.
29.
Stake, Robert E. (1995) The Art of Case Study Research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
30.
Taylor, Gary (2002) `Psychopathology and the Social and Historical Construction of Gay Male Identities', in Adrian Coyle and Celia Kitzinger (eds) Lesbian and Gay Psychology: New Perspectives. London: Blackwell.
31.
Troiden, Richard R. (1988) `The Formation of Homosexual Identities', Journal of Homosexuality17(1-2): 34—73.
32.
Whisman, Vera (1996) Queer by Choice: Lesbians, Gay Men, and the Politics of Identity. New York: Routledge .
33.
Wichstrøm, Lars and Hegna, Kristinn (2003) `Sexual Orientation and Suicide Attempt: A Longitudinal Study of the General Norwegian Adolescent Population', Journal of Abnormal Psychology112(1): 144—51.
