I Felt a Little Homosexual Today, So I Called in Sick: The Formation of “Reverse Discourse” by Swedish Gay Activists in the 1970s

• This article revolves around the legal and epistemic battles around “homosexuality” in Sweden in 1979, which led to the abolition of homosexuality being classified as a “disease”. Among other things, gay activists “called in sick” to the Social Insurance Agency (SIA) and claimed that they were unable to work because they were homosexuals (read as mentally disordered). The phone calls can be understood as a formation of “reverse” discourse; that is, gay people starting to speak on their own behalf, while using the same categories by which they were labelled. By analysing this resistance and a sit-in that was organised at the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare (NBHW), we conclude that reverse discourse, as a productive yet rupturing practice, is not a single- handed and unaccompanied resistance strategy but materialises as one practice among many in a complex web of resistance and power.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Tvärvetenskapliga studier inom samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)