The concept of imagined community has been deeply influential in scholarly understandings of nationality. In the three decades since its inception, however, the concept has expanded to be applied to a wider array of communities and identities, such as the elderly, secularists, hackers, and the LGBTQ + community. The bulk of this research has emphasized the in-group solidarity produced by imagined communities. Yet, a small body of research specifically on LGBTQ + imagined communities suggests that imagined community may also be alienating and marginalizing. Based on analysis of interviews with 29 non-heterosexual men, I find that respondents simultaneously discursively use the gay imagined community to stake a claim in community membership and to distance themselves from what they perceive to be negative aspects of that same community. This suggests that imagined communities can serve a more ambivalent function, both fostering solidarity and building boundaries. Moreover, my findings suggest the importance of studying communities’ “imagined centers.”

中文翻译：

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同性恋想象社区的团结、蔑视和想象中心

想象社区的概念对民族的学术理解产生了深远的影响。然而，自成立以来的三十年里，该概念已扩展到适用于更广泛的社区和身份，例如老年人、世俗主义者、黑客和 LGBTQ + 社区。这项研究的大部分内容都强调了想象中的社区所产生的群体内团结。然而，专门针对 LGBTQ + 想象社区的一小部分研究表明，想象社区也可能正在疏远和边缘化。根据对 29 名非异性恋男性的访谈分析，我发现受访者同时散漫地使用想象中的同性恋社区来主张社区成员身份，并与他们认为是同一社区的负面方面保持距离。这表明想象中的社区可以发挥更加矛盾的功能，既可以促进团结，也可以建立界限。此外，我的研究结果表明了研究社区“想象中心”的重要性。