Gay gang members
The Gang's All Queer: The Lives of Gay Gang Members
Description
Many people believe that gangs are made up of vicious thugs who are in and out of jail, and who are hyper-masculine and heterosexual. In The Gang’s All Queer, Vanessa Panfil introduces us to a different society. Meet gay gang members – sometimes referred to in popular culture as “homo thugs” – whose gay individuality complicates criminology’s portrayal and representation of gangs, gang members, and gang existence. In vivid detail, Panfil provides an in-depth understanding of how gay gang members construct and negotiate both masculine and gay identities through crime and gang membership… [From Amazon.com]
Publisher
New York University Press
Keywords
Gang members, Male lover men, United States
Disciplines
Criminology and Criminal Justice | Lesbian, Lgbtq+, Bisexual, and Trans Studies
Recommended Citation
Panfil, Vanessa R., "The Gang's All Queer: The Lives of Gay Gang Members" (2017). Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Books. 24.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/sociology_criminaljustice_books/24
There are many stereotypes of and assumptions about street gangs, just as there are many stereotypes and assumptions about gay men. Pretty much none of those stereotypes overlap.
In movies and television, some of the most recognizable gay characters have been portrayed as effeminate or weak; they’re “fashionistas” or “gay foremost friends.” Street gang members, on the other hand, are often depicted as hypermasculine, heterosexual and tough.
This obvious contradiction was one of the main reasons I was drawn to the subject of gay gang members.
For my book “The Gang’s All Queer,” I interviewed and spent time with 48 lgbtq+ or bisexual male gang members. All were between the ages of 18 and 28; the majority were men of color; and all lived in or near Columbus, Ohio, which has been referred to as a “Midwestern gay mecca.”
The encounter, which took place over the course of more than two years, allowed me to investigate the tensions they felt between gang life and gay manhood.
Some of the gang members were in gangs made up of primarily gay, lesbian or bisexual people. Others were the only gay man (or one of a few) in an otherwise “straight” gang. Then there were what I call “hybrid” gan
Panfil, Vanessa R.. "3 Gay Gangs Becoming “Known”: Respect, Violence, and Chosen Family". The Gang's All Queer: The Lives of Gay Gang Members, Novel York, USA: New York University Press, 2017, pp. 73-107. https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479805457.003.0008
Panfil, V. (2017). 3 Gay Gangs Becoming “Known”: Respect, Force, and Chosen Family. In The Gang's All Queer: The Lives of Homosexual Gang Members (pp. 73-107). New York, USA: Recent York University Press. https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479805457.003.0008
Panfil, V. 2017. 3 Gay Gangs Becoming “Known”: Respect, Violence, and Chosen Family. The Gang's All Queer: The Lives of Gay Gang Members. Brand-new York, USA: New York University Press, pp. 73-107. https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479805457.003.0008
Panfil, Vanessa R.. "3 Gay Gangs Becoming “Known”: Respect, Violence, and Chosen Family" In The Gang's All Queer: The Lives of Gay Gang Members, 73-107. New York, USA: New York University Press, 2017. https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479805457.003.0008
Panfil V. 3 Gay Gangs Becoming “Known”: Respect, Aggression,
The Gang's All Queer: The Lives of Gay Gang Members
Honorable Mention, 2018 Distinguished Book Award presented by the American Sociological Association’s Sociology of Sexualities Section
The first inside stare at gay gang members.
Many people assume that gangs are made up of violent thugs who are in and out of jail, and who are hyper-masculine and heterosexual. In The Gang’s All Queer, Vanessa Panfil introduces us to a other world. Meet lgbtq+ gang members – sometimes referred to in popular society as “homo thugs” – whose lgbtq+ identity complicates criminology’s portrayal and visibility of gangs, gang members, and gang life. In vivid detail, Panfil provides an in-depth sympathetic of how lgbtq+ gang members construct and negotiate both masculine and lgbtq+ identities through crime and gang membership.
The Gang’s All Queer draws from interviews with over 50 gay gang- and crime-involved fresh men in Columbus, Ohio, the majority of whom are men of hue in their tardy teens and first twenties, as adequately as on-the-ground ethnographic fieldwork with men who are in gay, hybrid, and straight gangs. Panfil provides an eye-opening portrait of how even members of straight gangs are co