「ノンケじゃない」既婚男性による 「既婚者であること」の実践

This paper aims to explore how gay/bisexual married men (do not) use their marital status to manipulate other gay/bisexual men’s impression of married ones when they have romantic or sexual relationships with other gay/bisexual men who are single (and married), using the colloquial term “non-ke” to signify heterosexuals. Several studies, called MOM (Mixed Orientation Marriage) research, focuses on gay/bisexual men who marry women and their relationships with wives and children. Much of this research has illustrated the reasons for marriage, post-coming-out marital relationships, and identity issues. Therefore, there is a remaining gap in understanding of closeted married gay/bisexual men. Specifically, there is limited research on how they handle “being married” when having sexual or romantic relationships with other men. Additionally, previous studies tend to interpret their experiences within the binary framework of “heterosexuality/homosexuality,” overlooking the experiences of such men that cannot be captured within these frameworks. To analyze their behaviors, this paper first utilizes “non-ke (straight),” which is the slang term referring to heterosexuals by sexual minorities in Japan. Drawing on Sedgwick (2001) and Takemura’s (2002) theories, this study revisits the concept of homosociality from the perspective on “non-ke/not non-ke” based on actions engaging in “heterosexual” marriages and sex. This perspective allows for an interpretation of men who fall out from the binary “heterosexual/homosexual” framework. Following this standpoint, the narratives of two married men who identify as not non-ke are then demonstrated such as how they handle their “being married” when they approach other not non-ke men. Initial research reveals two contradicting methods of the management of “being married”. Within the context of homosociality, the degree of commitment to heterosexual norms, explicitly manifests as “being married”, and this status is interpreted as “straightness”, even if the married men have romantic/sexual desire for other men. This commitment is found to be a cause of rejection or sexual interest from other men who identify as not non-ke. In response to these reactions, these married men may choose to conceal their marital status and become (“ordinary”) non-ke or, conversely, present their married status as a means to appeal to other not non-ke men and attempt to build a bond with the men in the same situation.