‘Nothing to Lose’: Gay and Bisexual Men, the Family and the Male Sexual Abuse Survivors’ Movement in the United States, 1985–1995

Abstract

Drawing on oral history interviews, organisational ephemera, television talk shows and published materials, ‘Nothing to Lose’ uncovers gay and bisexual men's leadership in the male survivors’ movement between 1985 and 1995. In the mid-1980s, male survivors of sexual abuse were just starting to come together in grassroots self-help groups and therapists’ offices. By the early 1990s, a growing number of books and memoirs as well as formalised organisations existed to support them. Despite interlocking stereotypes of sexually abused boys as destined to become both gay and abusive, gay and bisexual men served as leaders in this movement because they had already defied the gender and norms that made it so difficult for male survivors to come forward. Due to their experience in other activist struggles, they also had the skills and knowledge needed to organise groups and events, write self-help literature and speak to the media. By facilitating public expressions of male pain and vulnerability, as well as greater recognition of male sexual victimisation, the men discussed here complicated and enriched feminist analyses of childhood sexual abuse, while also helping to transform broader understandings of masculinity and the family.