I Didn't Have to Play Football to Be Hurt: An Inquiry Concerning the Disjunction between Public and Private Self

This autoethnographic inquiry and resultant performative text examine individual choice in the formation of public and private identities. Central is the significant developmental role that socialization plays in the natural process by which biologically similar organisms establish unique perspectives: identity, specifically, the emergence of a "gay" identity. Revisiting poignant, liminal moments within the span of four decades of personal memory of a gay-identified male, I explore and prescribe meaning from the curious behaviours undertaken in the interest of trans-normative safety--physical, psychological, emotional, sociocultural, and so on. (Contains 4 notes.)