I went to bed with my own kind once: the erasure of desire in the name of identity

This paper explores how some individualsʹ talk about sexual desire is rendered as incomprehensible when those desires are not easily talked about through categories of sexual identity. Using data from an `alternative lifestylesʹ support group in New York City, I argue that paying attention to expressions of desire is vital for understanding what `sexualityʹ has come to mean in contemporary theoretical accounts. Moreover, such an approach enables a critical view of both the political systems which underpin sexual identity as well as the relationships among language, gender, sexuality, and desire.