Queer Closets and Rainbow Hyperlinks: The Construction and Constraint of Queer Subjectivities Online

Queer youth’s dominant perceptions of the Internet construct it as a safe space devoid of homophobia in which to explore sexuality, find information, and make friends. Websites designed by or for queer youth have been regarded as important social networks because they provide a vocal space for queer young people to be queer. Such sites also have been viewed as a practice arena for coming out, where the anonymity of the individual works to support the disclosure of traditionally anonymous sexual subjectivities. However, the Internet also acts as a closet in the formation of queer subjectivities. Online, young people are confronted with, and work through, closets that foreclose particular heterosexual and queer vocalizations in favor of specific, recognizable, set queer subjectivities that are both enabling and disabling. Using a queer website, the author shows how online queer spaces can become closets, as well as offer negotiation potential for their users.