What is the relation between culture and the formation of a gay identity?

“Queerness brought with it artistic sensitivity- it gave you the capacity to appreciate and respond to culture” (Dyer, 20).

Culture is queerness, and it is a major step in the formation of a gay identity.

What is culture in regards to being queer?

Typically we see it as arts, theater, and ballet. This is “high culture.” However, this does not mean to put a queer person’s enjoyment in a “highbrow” box. There is a lot of identification in culture even in areas where it was created by heterosexual people. Sometimes straight culture has this queer subtext that can be completely unintentional, but is very obvious for those who are looking for it.

The process of discovering queerness stereotypically brings this artistic sensitivity and the idea of inserting oneself into culture as a “place to go.” Because being homosexual is ultimately declaring yourself as “different” from the expected heterosexual pipeline, having this culture attached to queerness is comforting.