Engaging sexualities: Lesbian/gay print journalism, community belonging, social space and physical place

Abstract

This article argues that lesbian/gay print journalism publications are strategically utilised by younger readers to forge a sense of community belonging. It is shown that such publications mediate an important dynamic between self-identity and group or community identity through motifs of belonging, engagement and access. Utilising interviews with younger readers of lesbian/gay journalism, it is argued that such publications are understood by readers as a public ‘social space’, but that a strong desire to engage in lesbian/gay in a local, geographic and physical sense is identified by the readers, suggesting that such publications perform an important but incomplete role in the construction of sexual identity and community belonging.