| Summary: | The purpose of this exploratory investigation was to investigate how self-identified gay
or bisexual (GB) men with developmental disabilities managed their complex identities.
Through various profiling strategies and snowball sampling techniques, seven such GB
men volunteered. These key participants resided over a wide geographical area, from
the coastal US to the southern part of British Columbia. Semi-structured interviews were
conducted with each person, three of whom identified a caregiver as being a particularly
important part of his "coming-out" process. Semi-structured interviews were also
conducted with these supporting participants, as well as a few other relevant
professionals. Key participants' life stories were framed within several theories: namely;
Goffman's (1963) stigma, Lave and Wengers' (1991) legitimate peripheral participation,
disability theory, queer theory and Smith's (1987) institutional ethnography. Similarly,
the supporting professionals' responses were analyzed. The results present rich
kaleidoscopic narrative descriptions, and provide many implications for special
education practice and queer activism. === Education, Faculty of === Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of === Graduate
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