We focused on the closetable identities of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered queer (LGBTQ) Jewish Americans through the use of identity narratives. Thirty-one people participated in narrative interviews about their identity negotiation decisions. The Communication Theory of Identity framed the inquiry by showing how the interpenetrations of identity layers and critical elements created changes and conflict in participants’ lives that necessitated negotiating their LGBTQ Jewish identity. Analyses revealed conflicts related to self-perception, experiences, perceptions of others, and enactments of being LGBTQ and Jewish, many of which revolved around issues of alienation. The potential for identity gaps to emerge and produce largely negative outcomes was ever present in their lives as they sought supportive communities for one or both identity elements. This study has implications for individual and community support of multiple and stigmatized identities.
Alpert, R. T., Elwell, S. L., & Idelson, S. (Eds.) (2001). Lesbian rabbis: The first generation. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University.
2.
Amyot, R.P., & Sigelman, L. ( 1996). Jews without Judaism? Assimilation and Jewish identity in the United States. Social Science Quarterly, 77, 177-189.
3.
Anonymous. (2001). In hiding. In R. T. Alpert, S. L. Elwell, & S. Idelson (Eds.), Lesbian Rabbis: The first generation (pp. 226-233). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University.
4.
Anonymous. (2002). In the Aron Kodesh: Wrestling with the rabbinic closet. In D. Shneer & C. Aviv (Eds.), Queer Jews (pp. 100-107). New York: Routledge .
5.
Balka, C., & Rose, A. ( 1989). Twice blessed: On being lesbian, gay and Jewish (Eds.) . Boston: Beacon.
6.
Braithwaite, D.O., Bach, B.W., Baxter, L.A., DiVerniero, R.Hammonds, J.R., Hosek, A.M., Willer, E.K., & Wolf, B.M. ( 2010). Constructing family: A typology of voluntary kin. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 27, 388-408. doi: 10.1177/0265407510361615.
7.
Bowen, S.P. ( 2000). Jewish and/or women: Identity and communication style . In A. Gonzalez, M. Houston, & V. Chen (Eds.), Our voices: Essays in culture, ethnicity, and communication, 3rd ed. (pp. 31-36). Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury.
8.
Brown, A. ( 2004). Mentsh: On being Jewish and queer. Los Angeles: Alyson Books.
9.
Cohen, J. ( 2002). Remembering the stranger: Identity, community, and same-sex marriage. In D. Shneer & C. Aviv (Eds.), Queer Jews (pp. 172-185). New York: Routledge.
10.
Cooper, A. ( 1990). No longer invisible: Gay and lesbian Jews build a movement . Journal of Homosexuality, 18, 83-94.
11.
Coyle, A., & Rafalin, D. ( 2000). Jewish gay men’s accounts of negotiating cultural, religious, and sexual identity: A qualitative study. Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality, 12(4), 21-48. doi:10.1300/J056v12n04_02.
12.
Crocker, J., Major, B., & Steele, C. ( 1998). Social stigma. In D. Gilbert, S. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), Handbook of Social Psychology (pp. 504-553). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
13.
Cutler, M. ( 2006). Minority group, majority space: Negotiating Jewish identity in a southern Christian context. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography , 35, 696-728. doi: 10.1177/0891241 606286999.
14.
Davis, K. ( 2008). Intersectionality as a buzzword: A sociology of science perspective on what makes a feminist theory successful. Feminist Theory, 9, 67-85. doi:10.1177/1464700 108086364.
15.
Diamond, L.M. ( 2008). Female bisexuality from adolescence to adulthood. Developmental Psychology, 44, 5-14. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.44.1.5.
16.
Edelman, S.M. ( 2000). To pass or not to pass, that is the question: Jewish cultural identity in the United States. In M. W. Lustig & J. Koester (Eds.), Among us: Essays on identity, belonging, and intercultural competence (pp. 33-40). New York: Longman.
17.
Faulkner, S.L., & Hecht, M.L. ( 2006). Tides in the ocean: A layered approach to culture and communication. In B. B. Whaley & W. Samter (Eds.), Explaining communication: Contemporary theories and exemplars (pp. 383-402). Mahwah, NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum.
18.
Glaser, B.G. ( 1978). Theoretical sensitivity: Advances in the methodology of grounded theory. Mill Valley, CA: Sociology Press.
19.
Golden, D., Niles, T.A., & Hecht, M.L. ( 1998). Jewish American identity. In J. N. Martin, T. K. Nakayama, & L. A. Flores (Eds.), Readings in cultural contexts (pp. 62-70). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.
20.
Hecht, M.L. ( 1993). 2002-A research odyssey: Toward the development of a communication theory of identity. Communication Monographs , 60, 76-82.
21.
Hecht, M.L., & Faulkner, S.L. (2000). Sometimes Jewish, sometimes not: The closeting of Jewish American identity. Communication Studies, 51, 372-387. doi:10.1080/10510970009388532.
22.
Hecht, M.L., Faulkner, S.L., Meyer, C., Niles, T.A., Golden, D., & Cutler, M. ( 2002). Jewish American Identity: A communication theory of identity analysis of the television series Northern Exposure. Journal of Communication, 52, 852-869.
23.
Hecht, M.L., Jackson, R.L., & Ribeau, S.A. ( 2003). African American communication: Exploring identity and culture, 2nd ed. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
24.
Hecht, M.L., Warren, J., Jung, J., & Kreiger, J. ( 2004). Communication theory of identity. In W.B. Gudykunst (Ed.), Theorizing about intercultural communication (pp. 257-278). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
25.
Herek, G.M. ( 1998). Stigma and sexual orientation: Understanding prejudice against lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals. Thousand Oaks : Sage.
26.
Hornreich, D. ( 2001). I was a Cliché. In D. Ruttenberg (Ed.), Yentl’s Revenge: The next wave of Jewish feminism (pp. 68-77). Seattle, WA: Seal.
27.
Jervis, L. ( 2000). My Jewish nose. In O. Edut (Ed.), Body outlaws: Young women write about body image and identity (pp. 62-67). Seattle, WA: Seal .
28.
Jung, E., & Hecht, M.L. ( 2004). Elaborating the Communication Theory of Identity: Identity Gaps and Communication Outcomes. Communication Quarterly, 52, 265-283.
29.
Jung, E., Hecht, M.L., & Wadsworth, B.C. (2007). The role of identity in international students’ psychological well-being in the United States: A model of depression levels, identity gaps, discrimination, and acculturation . International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 31, 605-624. doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2007.04.001.
30.
Knobloch, L.K., & Knobloch-Fedders, L.M. (2010). The role of relational uncertainty in depressive symptoms and relationship quality: An actor-partner interdependence model. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships , 27, 137-159. doi: 10.1177/0265407509348809.
31.
Lamm, N. ( 2000). The high holy days are not sexy. In L. Damsky (Ed.), Sex and single girls: Straight and queer women on sexuality (pp. 351-355). Seattle, WA: Seal.
32.
Lieblich, A., Tuval-Mashiach, R., & Zilber, T. ( 1998). Narrative research: Reading, analysis, and interpretation . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
33.
Lincoln, Y.S., & Guba, E.G. ( 1995). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
34.
Maxwell, J. ( 2010). Using numbers in qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry, 16(6), 475-482.
35.
McAdams, D.P. ( 1993). The stories we live by: Personal myths and the making of the self. New York: William Morrow .
36.
McCall, L. ( 2005). The complexity of intersectionality. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 30, 1771-1800.
37.
Meyer, I.H. ( 2003). Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: Conceptual issues and research evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 674-697. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.129.5.674.
38.
Miles, M., & Huberman, A. ( 1994). Qualitative data analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
39.
Mishler, E. ( 1986). The analysis of interview-narratives. In T. R. Sarbin (Ed.), Narrative psychology (pp. 233-255). Westport, CT: Praeger.
40.
Morse, J. ( 1992). Qualitative health research. Newbury Park, CA; Sage.
41.
Morse, J. ( 2007). Qualitative researchers don’t count. Qualitative Health Research, 17, 287. doi:10.1177/1049732306297322.
42.
Orbach, W. ( 1975-76). Homosexuality and Jewish law. Journal of Family Law, 14, 353-381.
43.
Petronio, S., Reeder, H.M., Hecht, M.L., & Mont’Ros-Mendoza, T. (1996). Disclosure of sexual abuse by children and adolescents. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 24, 181-199.
44.
Petsonk, J. ( 1998). Taking Judaism personally. New York : Free Press.
45.
Riessman, C.K. ( 1993). Narrative analysis. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
46.
Riessman, C.K. ( 2004). Analysis of personal narratives. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research, 2nd ed. (pp. 695-710). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
47.
Rose, A., & Balka, C. ( 2002). Creating our histories: A look back at twice blessed . In D. Shneer & C. Aviv (Eds.), Queer Jews (pp. 16-22). New York: Routledge.
48.
Rubin, H.J., & Rubin, I.S. ( 1995). Qualitative interviewing: The art of hearing data. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
49.
Schnoor, R.S. ( 2003). Finding one’s place: Ethnic identity construction among gay Jewish men. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, McGill University, Montreal.
50.
Schnoor, R.S., & Weinfeld, M. ( 2005). Seeking a mate: Inter-group partnerships among gay Jewish men. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 38(1), 21-39.
51.
Shneer, D., & Aviv, C. (Eds.) (2002). Queer Jews. New York: Routledge.
52.
U.S. Department of Justice (2008). Uniform Crime Report - Hate crime statistics. Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2008/victims.html
53.
Wolfman, O. ( 2002). Remaking family: Canadian Jews, sexuality, and relationships . In D. Shneer & C. Aviv (Eds.), Queer Jews (pp. 156-171). New York: Routledge.
