The Way Same-Sex Couples Are Recognized by Their Neighbors and Recognize Themselves in a Rural Area

A Case Study of Gay Couples Who Migrated to a Rural Communities

Abstract

  This paper examines how gay couples are recognized by their neighbors and recognize themselves in a rural area, which is different from metropolitan areas, utilizing their interactions with local residents living in the same area.

  Traditionally, sexual minorities in rural areas were depicted as “closeted” and “oppressed,” which turned out to be the metronormativity and led to an increase in more diverse and complicated representations. Previous studies have focused on how sexual minorities in rural areas gain acceptance on the premise that they are categorized as gay and alien.

  This research utilizes semi-structured interviews with two cisgender gay couples who migrated to the rural communities in Kinki and Shikoku areas. In addition, we conducted the combination of semi-structured interviews and participant observation with local residents living in the same area as one of the couples.

  The interviews with gay couples revealed that “gay” was not the only category applied to them, but rather, they were socially categorized in numerous ways. Before sexual minorities present their sexual orientation and gender identity in certain ways or emphasize their commonalities to the local residents, they are recognized in different categories like as neighbors, the young, migrants, or farmers, which overlap in many situations in daily lives. This implies they manage to escape from being categorized only as gay without taking action. This was made possible by the fact that local residents perceived them from various perspectives in the background where the spheres of private life, livelihood, and community activities were interconnected. The question whether they are accepted or not is not enough to understand the lives of sexual minorities in rural areas. Investigating what conditions allow sexual minorities living in rural areas to be categorized in diverse ways and which categories are dominant plays a vital role.