Chapter Title

Between Kansas and Oz: Drugs, Sex, and the Search for Gay Identity in the Fast Lane

Book Title

The Story of Sexual Identity: Narrative Perspectives on the Gay and Lesbian Life Course

Authors

Steven P. Kurtz, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow

Department

Department of Justice and Human Services

Files

Document Type

Book Chapter

Editors

Phillip L. Hammack, Bertram J. Cohler

Description

This chapter describes how gay men attempt to locate themselves in an environment in which change, spectacle, and the search for altered states of being are the main constants. It draws on extensive qualitative data collected over a decade to trace patterns in the narratives that gay men use to describe their experiences as they absorb and sometimes separate from the sex-drug pleasure dome that Miami is often seen to represent. The chapter presents the story of how men from diverse backgrounds integrate the sense of themselves as developed throughout childhood and adolescence (“Kansas”) into this urban space that for most of them feels like “Oz”.

ISBN

978-0195326789

Publication Date

3-6-2009

Publisher

Oxford University Press

City

New York, NY

Keywords

gay men, homosexuals, Miami, sexual identity

Disciplines

Social and Behavioral Sciences

First Page

151

Last Page

176

NSUWorks Citation

Kurtz, S. P. (2009). Between Kansas and Oz: Drugs, Sex, and the Search for Gay Identity in the Fast Lane. The Story of Sexual Identity: Narrative Perspectives on the Gay and Lesbian Life Course, 151-176. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195326789.003.0007

DOI

10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195326789.003.0007