Gay boyhoods and fathers

In the cultural and political effervescence of the 1960s and 1970s, the idea of compulsory heterosexuality [CH] became central to gay/lesbian politics. Lewes proposes an alternative theory of gay boyhoods. Moreover, reflecting the normalizing politics in urban gay America at the time, Isay insisted that being gay is a natural and typical human variation, or, as Chodorow and Mitchell argued a "compromise formation" as ordinary as male heterosexual development. After the pioneering work of Lewes and Isay, there were surprisingly few efforts to elaborate a uniquely gay Oedipus. The protogay boy confronts an unforgiving Oedipal challenge. "First-wave" gay standpoint psychoanalytic thinkers were in sync with second-wave gay justice movements. Social changes have altered the context for understanding gay boyhoods and fathers in contemporary America. Researchers suggest that there are unique socio-psychological dynamics of gay parenting. For example, gay dads are more process-oriented and egalitarian then their straight counterparts as they negotiate domestic and child-caring tasks.