Stigma Management Techniques of Gay Skinheads: A Content Analysis of a Gay Racist Website and Message Boards

Abstract

In 2004, I began a project attempting to find out why gay racists are attracted to White supremacy groups and how these individuals attempt to neutralize the stigma of homosexuality in order to gain acceptance by other White power supporters. There has been some research on gay skinheads but little on those that are also White supremacists. I examined a number of gay skinhead sites and using content analysis examined the rhetoric used by gay racist skinheads to appeal to other White supremacists. I also joined online gay skinhead discussion boards to find out which topics members were discussing and to find members to recruit for interviews. I was more successful with the content analysis aspect of this research study and much less successful as an online participant-observer. This case study illustrates some of the ethical and methodological difficulties of trying to infiltrate a group to learn more about its members and the advantages and disadvantages of using content analysis of a static web page to learn more about the ideology of group members.

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