ABSTRACT
For centuries, disparate cultures have influenced whether and how same-gender desires should shape the identities of the individuals who experience them. This chapter provides possible reference points for understanding individuals in the context of a multicultural society. The visibility of the gay/lesbian community has generally facilitated young people's coming out, but some public images make it more difficult for immigrant, minority, working-class, and religious youth to accept the label. The variables of gender, family structure, culture, and religion are also important among ethnic gays and lesbians of European and Middle Eastern background, for whom rigidly prescribed male and female roles and behavior have led to gendered understandings of homosexual desire. Cohesive ethnic families may alternately require that gays and lesbians keep their sexualities to themselves, as a condition of remaining in the clan. The American majority must respect that multiple minority people can form identities that depend less on Western parameters and more on their native culture's terms.
