Exploring the adoption and expression of subcultural identities among gay, bisexual, and queer-identifying men in Australia

Gay, bisexual, and queer-identifying (GBQ) communities tend to comprise various subcultural identity groups based around shared practices and intersectional identities, but little research has sought to qualitatively understand how these identities are situated within communities and enacted in everyday life. Further understanding subcultural identities is important as they reflect the diversity of GBQ men and potential health risks/differences between groups of men that may otherwise not be considered. This study aimed to advance understanding of GBQ subcultural identities in Australia by investigating how GBQ men come to adopt and express subcultural identities, such as 'Bear', 'Twink', or 'Daddy'. Fifteen gay, bisexual, and queer-identifying men living in Australia who identified with one or more GBQ subcultures participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews between September and November 2019. An inductive thematic analysis with semantic coding and a realist framework was used to assess patterns of meaning within the data. Two higher level themes emerged relating to discovering identity and evolving practices of identification, with sub-themes related to self-guided exploration, identification by others, and contextual changes in expressing identity. These findings highlight that adopting subcultural identities involved elements of exploring language and discourse and embracing or resisting identification. The ways in which subcultural identities were integrated and expressed appeared to evolve over time and shift within different contexts, including emphasising or suppressing aspects of identity. This knowledge expands understanding of GBQ subcultural identities and help inform culturally-sensitive considerations for health promotion, policy, and research that engages GBQ men.