IDENTITY POLITICS AS HIGH-RISK ACTIVISM - CAREER CONSEQUENCES FOR LESBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL SOCIOLOGISTS

This paper argues that identity politics is a form of high-risk activi sm. We draw from collective identity approaches to social movements to describe how the Sociologists' Lesbian and Gay Caucus has used identi ty-based organizing, assimilationist politics, and personalized politi cal strategies during the past two decades to challenge stigmatized re presentations of same-sex sexuality and promote equal treatment of gay s and lesbians in sociology and the larger society. Using survey data collected in 1981 and 1992 from counts members, supplemented by intens ive interviews, we assess the extent to which an increase in reported rates of discrimination and bias during the pad ten years is linked to variations in activist experience and political consciousness. We the n present a qualitative analysis of five career consequences suffered by gay, lesbian, and bisexual sociologists who engage in various forms of personalized political resistance: 1) discrimination in hiring; 2) bias in tenure and promotion; 3) exclusion from serial and profession al networks: 4) devaluation of scholarly work on gay and lesbian topic s; and 5) harassment and intimidation. We conclude by examining the im plications of our findings for the social movement literature that add resses the formation, use, and impact of identity politics.