...compared with 20 years ago. For example, all Scandinavian countries now have implemented marriage-like same-sex partner registration starting with Denmark in 1989, Norway in 1993, and Sweden in 1994 (Badgett, 2004). The Norwegian Parliament approved a law against discrimination against lesbians and gays in 1981. The same seemingly successful process toward legal recognition of lesbian and gay ways of living is occurring in several industrialized countries. Internet technology is another significant structural change that has led to easier access to information about homosexuality and ways of living a lesbian or gay life, and to new ways of connecting with other people. More Norwegians also report favorable attitudes toward lesbians and gays, although many still report negative attitudes (e.g. Anderssen, 2002). At the same time, the very distinctions between homosexuality and heterosexuality have been challenged, not only within queer theorizing (e.g. Butler, 1993; Sedgwick, 1990; Seidman, 1996), but also in popular culture and ways of talking about gender and sexual preference categories. One may speculate that the effects of structural, attitudinal, and conceptual changes may make the lives of lesbians and gays easier. This may lead to lesbian women having sexual relations with people of their own gender earlier in life, and being more likely to identify themselves as gay and lesbian earlier in life, and also telling their parents about their sexual orientation earlier in life. In this article we will explore historical effects on lesbian identity events and thereby assess the hypothesis that the lives of lesbians are easier today.

Identity Events Among Lesbian Women

One major sphere in the lives of those who identify as lesbians and gays today and during the past four or five decades relates to their position as nonheterosexual, that is, being deviant and seeing themselves as not typical within the erotic/sexual/social domains. Obviously, this is a multifaceted sphere, and lesbians and gays in various countries and communities live their lives in all sorts of ways, dealing with the nonheterosexual position in different ways. We hypothesize, however, that all these people share the experience of having to deal with the issue of identifying as lesbian or gay, be it easy or difficult.

A tradition focusing on identity within gay and lesbian studies, that opposed the search for causes of homosexuality, emerged during the 1960s to 1980s. It specifically was aimed at understanding the processes and obstacles through which some young women and men came to terms with living their adult lives as lesbians and gays. This sociologically oriented tradition produced identity formation theories that focused on coming out, defined as the time when a person identified himself or herself as homosexual (Dank, 1971; Hooker, 1967). Later, more events were included in theorizing the formation of lesbian and gay identity, such as the first same-sex sexual experience, self-identifying as lesbian/gay, telling others of one's sexual orientation (other lesbians and gays, heterosexual friends, family, colleagues), and forming relationships with other gays and lesbians (Bell & Weinberg, 1978; Coleman, 1982; de Monteflores & Schultz, 1978; Ettorre, 1980; Giertsen, 1989; Gramick, 1984; Hegna, Kristiansen, & Moseng, 1999; Lewis, 1984; Markowe, 1996; Rankine, 2001; Riddle & Morin, 1977; Rust, 1992; Schafer, 1976; Troiden, 1988). Several authors have sorted and summarized such events into patterns of phases and stages in processes of identity formation (Cass, 1979; Coleman, 1982; Lee, 1977; Schafer, 1976; Troiden, 1988). Although the theories vary in concepts, they share several features. Troiden (1988), for example, suggested a model of four stages (sensitization, identity confusion, identity assumption, and commitment). Others have suggested models of two broad phases. In Giertsen's (1989) model, the identification phase captures the process of self-identification as lesbian including acquiring the meaning of the term homosexuality and having sex with another woman for the first time, while the second manifestation phase captures the process from self-identifying as lesbian to telling others, establishing a lasting intimate relationship with another woman, and becoming a member of a gay/lesbian organization. These two phases correspond to Markowe's (1996) model of a two-phase process consisting of "coming out to self" and "coming out to others."

Lesbian and gay identity formation theories have been challenged and criticized for assuming a linear process toward a defined end point where "one begins with no identity, or with the presumption of heterosexuality, proceeds through a series of stages of development, and ends with a gay or lesbian identity, proudly held and fully integrated with other aspects of one's identity" (Sophie, 1986, p. 39). The typical approach according to Weinberg (1984) implies one path to one identity, instead of several paths and several identities. Further, the idea of a final end point (identification as lesbian or gay) ignores lifelong processes of coming to terms with changing social contexts where one's heterosexuality is taken for granted, forcing lesbians and gays into a continuing process of coming out. The models also have been accused of sexism by assuming a linear "male" process suitable for some men, while ignoring more fluid experiences and categories described by many women (Gonsiorek & Rudolph, 1991, p. 165). Further, the models are thought to reproduce dichotomous notions of heterosexuality versus homosexuality without acknowledging the possibility of bisexuality (Rust, 1993). The models also have been criticized for their inattention to the surrounding social forces and to the larger sociohistorical context (Cox & Gallois, 1996; Eliason, 1996).

Despite limitations and critiques of these approaches, however, we believe that many contemporary lesbians and gays in the Westernized world relate to issues of labeling oneself as lesbian and gay. Key terms in this labeling process are the individual's inner reality interacting with an external cultural context (Brown, 1995). Emphasis is placed on a person identifying with prevailing cultural categories in experiencing and dealing with cultural stigma. As most societies in our parts of the world still operate with notions of lesbians, gays, and heteros, and lesbians and gays are still marginalized and stereotyped, lesbians and gays necessarily have to relate to and come to terms with contemporary constructions of identities (see Brown, 1995; Rust, 1993; Sophie, 1986). We therefore assume that for most individual adult lesbians and gays, the process is significant and formative in one's life and, thus, it is possible to remember and specify certain aspects of this process. Due to structural, attitudinal, and conceptual changes regarding hetero- and homosexuality, however, we hypothesize that contemporary identification processes may appear somewhat different compared with those only a few decades ago. Generally, we believe all of these events to have happened earlier due to the increased visibility of lesbians and lesbian lifestyles and a seemingly more tolerant social climate regarding homosexuality.

Based on Giertsen's model of identity formation among lesbians (1989), we suggest that important lesbian identity events include understanding the term homosexuality, experiencing sex with another woman, self-identification as lesbian, telling parents of one's sexual orientation, establishing a lesbian relationship, and entering an organization for lesbians and gays. The most important of these events may arguably be the turning point of self-identification as lesbian, and the age when this event occured probably lays the foundation for the timing of the other events (Adelman, 1990; George, 1993; Hareven & Masaoka, 1988; Morris, 1997; Rutter, 1996).

Time Period Effects and Age Effects

Several researchers argue that time is an important factor in studies of lesbian and gay experiences, although they seldom present data that correspond to this (e.g. Diamond, 1998; Eliason, 1996; Levine, 1997; Markowe, 1996; Morris, 1997; Savin-Williams, 1998). The sparse literature on lifestyle and life event changes in lesbian women and gay men reports several changes in recent decades. In the United States, Parks (1999) divided her sample of lesbian women into three groups and compared "pre-Stonewall" (ages 45-79) with "Liberation" (ages 33-42) and "Gay rights" (ages 23-29) subsamples and concluded that a process of lesbian identification typically emerges at an earlier age in contemporary times in contrast to a few decades ago. In a recent study from the United States, Grov, Bimbi, Nanin and Parsons (2006) reported that lesbians come out at an earlier age and that this is due to changes in cultural factors impacting the coming-out process. In Norway, the age of coming out to others as lesbian and age of first same-sex sexual experience is reported to have declined considerably over the last 30 years (Hegna et al., 1999). There is, however, serious...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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