Navigating Cisheteronormativity in Military and Police Training: Experiences of Black Gay Male Soldiers and Police Officers in South Africa

The South African historical research proves that military training camps during apartheid were sites of cisheteronormativity which recognised cis-gendered heterosexual men and informed the ill-treatment of gay male recruits who were exposed to harsh conversion therapies. Due to limited research, little is known about gay male soldiers and police officers’ encounters with cisheteronormative occupational cultures in their training experiences post-1994. This study explores how cisheteronormativity manifests and inform the negotiation and recognition of Black gay men’s identities in the male-dominated military and police training spaces. Through qualitative in-depth interviews with 24 Black gay soldiers and police officers who underwent police and military trainings, the study established that Black gay male soldiers and police officers are often propelled by cisheteronormative ideologies and occupational cultures in training spaces to carefully negotiate their sexual identities. The findings contribute to our knowledge of how cisheteronormative occupational cultures operate as oppressive forces, that hinder the full recognition and integration of gay men in the police and military contexts. Consequently, I argue that it is necessary to trouble cisheteronormative male occupational cultures in order to promote and achieve the social integration of Black gay men in military and police training spaces.