Abstract
South African literature indicates that LGBTIQ+ people continue to encounter discrimination and oppression in various social spaces due to heteronormative ideologies that create barriers to acceptance and tolerance of sexual diversity. While much of the literature examines spaces such as schools, universities, churches, family settings, and both rural and urban communities, limited attention has been given to gay identities within traditional male-dominated workplaces. This thesis contributes to this knowledge gap by critically exploring the influence of heteronormative ideologies in two traditional male-dominated workplaces, the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), and how these ideologies facilitate the construction and negotiation of Black gay men’s sexual identities. Although there is substantial evidence of how Black gay male bodies are marginalised in many parts of South African society, this study specifically brings to the fore the voices of Black gay men in male-dominated workplaces that embody masculinist and heteronormative occupational cultures. Using intersectionality as a central connecting thread, the study links Connell’s theory of masculinities, Goffman’s theory on stigma, and Foucault’s theory on discourse and the regulation of sexuality, offering a significant theoretical contribution. These three theoretical perspectives collectively explain the structure of traditional male-dominated workplaces and how they shape the lived experiences of Black gay men employed within them.
The research adopts a feminist standpoint epistemology to shed light on Black gay men’s experiences in workplaces that are dominated by and favour heterosexual men. In-depth interviews were conducted with 24 Black gay men who are formally employed in the SAPS and SANDF, and their experiences were thematically analysed to capture their nuanced realities. The findings of this study indicate that heteronormative discourses on sexual identities remain dominant in some parts of the organisations and facilitates the persistent policing of men’s sexual identities and the performance of their masculinities. Through an intersectional analysis, the study uncovers how power operates in shaping Black gay men’s different experiences of stigma, oppression, tolerance, and acceptance amidst heteronormative constraints. Some Black gay police officers and soldiers were able to practice agency in their workplaces and disrupt the heteronormative discourse and silencing of sexual minorities, but this agency is often regulated by the presence of heteronormative ideologies and stigma in various parts of the organisations, hence, some voices are more audible than others. This thesis
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highlights the nuanced ways that Black gay male police officers and soldiers navigate heteronormative barriers over time and across different spaces. In doing so, it contributes towards disrupting heteronormative ideologies that silence and exclude sexual minority individuals in the SAPS and SANDF.