Jay Ruby (ruby@acsworld.net)

(A paper written for an American Anthropological Association meeting panel on ethnography in the U.S. November 18, 2000. An edited version will be presented at the panel. I have borrowed portions of this paper from my earlier writing on the Oak Park gay community and the OPALGA 1992 Strategic Plan. "Sarha" has read this paper and given me permission to circulate it. This is a work-in-progress circulated for comments, criticisms and suggestions. It is not for publication or attribution without permission of the author.)

This paper reports preliminary findings from an ethnographic study of Oak Park, a middle-class Chicago suburb regarded internationally as a model of ethnic integration and my place of birth. The research is designed to explore four areas: reflexivity, video ethnography, the role of the internet in ethnography and ethnography among the American middleclass. The experiment in reflexivity is focused upon what happens when an anthropologist studies his home town. I am at once native and researcher. The experiment in video ethnography centers around exploiting the potential of digital video to shoot without benefit of a crew. I will produce of body of work that is not designed for public television or the classroom but rather as an expression of scholarly communication - a video book about the study. I have established a web site where I have placed a series of materials relevant to my research and through an email listserv I provide monthly updates (See http://astro.temple.edu/~ruby/opp/).

This paper will concentrate on one particular aspect of my ethnographic exploration of Oak Park - the gay community. To make things easier I will use the term gay to represent gay male, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. While there has been some journalistic attention to the growing gay population in suburbs (Dunlap 1996), social scientists have tended to overlook them and assume that the suburbs are not welcoming places and those gays who do live there are closeted (Lynch 1992). My exploration of Oak Park disproves that assumption. The rapidly changing face of suburban gay America demands our attention. It may constitute as much as 32 percent of the gay population (from a 1994 Overlooked Opinion survey) and differ significantly from urban enclaves in San Francisco and New York City. A 1994 survey found that more gay suburbanites share households than do city dwellers (46 percent compared with 40 percent), and are far more likely to be homeowners (52 percent compared with 37 percent. Duncan 1996).

Let me briefly explain why exploring the integration of gays into Oak Park is an interesting and worthwhile subject to pursue anthropologically. Since its founding in the early 1900s, Oak Park had been a bastion of Republican WASP conservatism tempered slightly by a primarily female progressive involvement in reform and social welfare. The women got some help from some liberal clergymen. It was known for its Frank Lloyd Wright houses and as the birthplace of Ernest Hemingway, who left at nineteen claiming it was the "middle-class capital of the world."

In the late 1960s a pattern of block by block resegregation decimated the west side of Chicago, including Austin - a neighborhood that borders Oak Park. Everyone assumed that tide would continue and engulf this suburb. It did not. In the forty years since, Oak Park has transformed itself into a model integrated community where blacks and whites strive to live together. Real estate values are soaring. The vacancy rate among the rentals that make up almost forty percent of the housing units is less than one percent. It is not possible to detail the complexities of the so-called "Oak Park strategy" that has attracted worldwide attention (Goodwin 1979). Oak Parkers marketed their community in a variety of ways - initially to African-Americans to demonstrate that they really did intend to enforce their own fair housing ordinance and, then, to middle-class liberal whites to counterbalance the loss of white citizens caused by the white flighters who fled when blacks started to purchase houses. These new residents were frequently in social services, medical professions and university professors. For example, over 200 University of Illinois, Chicago faculty live there. Oak Park became transformed into a haven for whites seeking a place to act out their political and ethical values and for blacks looking for a safe place with stable property values and good schools.

Sometime in the 1970s the director of the Housing Center, an organization designed to keep the rental market integrated, noticed that a number of gays were among the "new" Oak Parkers. As she considered them to be people likely to be opposed to segregation and willing participants in efforts to create a progressive community, she decided to place ads in some gay publications. Thirty years later, Planetout.com voted Oak Park one of the ten best gay-friendly small towns. According to Overlooked Opinions, a Chicago market research company, the percentage of gays in Oak Park is about double the national average. (Of the small towns and cities mentioned as gay friendly, only a few are suburban - Pleasanton and Vallejo near San Francisco, Freehold, Maplewood, and Plainfield in New Jersey. None are known for being ethnically diverse.)

I do not wish to imply that gays first came to Oak Park as a result of one ad in a newspaper. Like all communities, Oak Park has always had people whose sexual preference was for people of the same sex. Given the times, they simply assumed a "don't ask, don't tell" posture. The public and political emergence of gays in Oak Park occurred during the late 1980s first as a response to the AIDS crisis and then as a result of the public debate surrounding the possibility of the village adopting a non-discrimination clause in hiring and employment, an ordinance that businesses cannot discriminate and a modification of the high schools' Human Dignity Policy to include sexual orientation. These changes were eventually approved, but only after some acrimonious debate.

Soon thereafter, the village was asked to include same-sex partners in their employee benefits packages and to pass a domestic partnership ordinance permitting same sex couples to register their relationship officially with the village. While the benefits package passed the village board, the domestic partnership ordinance was taken to a non-binding referendum. It barely passed a popular vote but it empowered the village board to pass the ordinance. A number of gays who were not politically involved before became politicized once they realized how much opposition there was in the village to what they considered a simple civil-rights issue. Interestingly enough, the controversy over benefits and the registry also caused the politically conservative Evangelical Christians to mobilize in their opposition to what they regard as the "gay agenda."

It was around the time of the first public debates about gay civil rights that a small group formed the Oak Park Lesbian and Gay Association - (later called the Oak Park Area Lesbian and Gay Association or OPALGA). It has since grown into one of the largest volunteer political and social organization in Oak Park, with over 350 contributing members and over 800 on its mailing list. The organization itself has provided the most articulate description of its intentions and self-image. "From the beginning, OPALGA has had a vision of the integration and empowerment of gay men and lesbians uniquely different from that held by other gay and lesbian organizations. Some of the differences noted by others - widespread, aggressively affirmative participation in the full spectrum of community life - may be attributed to the fact that OPALGA is a contained organization operating within the confines of the relatively small community of Oak Park. In such a small community, opportunities for the ghettoization of lesbians and gays as an autonomous minority community does not exist" (OPALGA's 1992 strategic plan).

Such an organization is possible because it is situated in a place where "small town values" exist. Again I quote from the strategic plan - "Oak Park is a 'small town' suburb. As such, it is noted throughout the Chicago area as a community in which individuals feel themselves to be empowered in claiming 'ownership' of local government and institutions. In Oak Park, it is not expected that principal actors in public affairs be professionalized, or that they necessarily act as 'the most informed.' The widely held belief of Oak Park residents that leadership belongs in the hands of those with the most personal integrity rather than in the hands of professionals (i.e., outsiders) offers unique opportunities for OPALGA as a volunteer organization serving an oppressed minority that finds its own empowerment precisely in the claim of personal integrity. While the small town aspects of Oak Park give OPALGA the opportunity to act, the educated sophistication of Oak Park residents provides the organization further opportunities for access and understanding. Oak Park is uniquely situated in a position to be aware of major social changes in the world at large while maintaining a sense of individual empowerment that significantly reduces perceptions of external threat. For the most part, Oak Park residents are willing to allow themselves to change their own social perspectives and values in relation to a perceived greater common good as long as they anticipate no personal threat." OPALGA "...began as a political action organization directed toward passage of amendments to the Village's Human Rights Ordinance to include protections for gays and lesbians against discrimination in areas of employment, housing and public accommodations. As a result, the organization early on acquired the public image of a political advocacy organization. This characterization has greatly influenced the kind of people who have subsequently joined the organization."

A 1992 profile of actively involved members of OPALGA indicates members to be:

"Above the national average in education and in income.
But below village averages in income.
More likely to be divorced.
More likely to be in a committed relationship.
More likely to be older (30 - 50 years old).
More likely to be professionally involved in social/therapy or public service fields.
More likely to be in a committed relationship.
More likely to be heterosexually married.
More likely to have children.
More likely to be homeowners." (OPALGA Strategic Plan, 1992)

My hunch is that the profile would still be accurate.

My interest in this community is partially the result of the fact that it sees itself as a "test case" for many of the social experiments that characterized the civil-rights movement and a logical extension of the desire of Oak Parkers to be integrated and diverse. In 1992 only a few years after its founding, OPALGA members assumed that they would be able "...to develop and present a test case of lesbian and gay integration and empowerment more fully expanded than can be imagined in more fragmented inner cities or more isolated small towns. OPALGA has the opportunity to develop models for community interaction that may be used by other cities and towns, who will be able to present the benefits derived from such positive interaction in Oak Park as historic precedents for their own achievements. No community wants to be the one to 'go first.' Oak Park is capable of doing so." (OPALGA Strategic Plan, 1992)

Oak Park is one of a handful of communities to pass a domestic partnership registry and to elect a lesbian to local public office. There can be no question that the gay community has a strong public voice. It provides an unprecedented chance to study how gays, especially those who are home owners and in long-term relationships often with children, can become integrated into a suburban community.

Let me now become concrete about my approach with a brief life history of a native Oak Parker who is a lesbian and community activist. She, her partner and their children will be the subject of one of my videotape explorations. It is my intention to portray their lives in such a way as to allow people to see how they embody and personify some core values of the Oak Park gay community.

"Sarah" (a pseudonym) was born into a progressive and activist Jewish family in the late 1950s. She grew up in an atmosphere in which gay people were accepted. While gays were certainly living in the village at that time, they lived a "don't ask, don't tell" kind of existence which precluded the possibility of any public gay bashing. Sarah made the logical assumption that homophobia was not a part of her hometown. Following her parents' values, Sarah went to a liberal arts college where she prepared herself for a life of progressive activism - "to make a difference in the world" - as she puts it. Having completed a Ph.D. in social policy and research, Sarah now works for a research institute where she conducts policy research around issues of poverty such as an evaluation of a program for welfare for victims of domestic violence, teen pregnancy and sweat shops in the Chicago area. In Oak Park, she continues to be a social and politically active citizen as a member of one of the village's citizen's commissions and a task force on diversity.

Unlike many gays, Sarah did not have to struggle with discovering her sexual identity. At nineteen in college she developed a strong attachment to another woman and discovered that she was not asexual as she had thought in high school but a lesbian. When she informed her parents they were accepting, although her mother expressed concern that Sarah might experience some negative response from others. Her parents' affirming reaction was such that Sarah was able to comfortably live with her partner at her parents' house while she attended graduate school.

By the mid-1980s Sarah and her partner felt the need to expand their social life beyond the bar scene available to them in Chicago. They became involved in Lavender Bouquet, a primarily lesbian social club that met in an Oak Park church.
Only thirteen women showed up at the first meeting, but the group rapidly grew to over 250. It was strictly a social place where women met monthly for potlucks, discussions of important issues and film screenings.

In the late 1980s, two gay men instrumental in the founding of OPALGA contacted Sarah to ask if she would join them in creating an organization that sought greater visibility for gays in the village. The idea appealed, although she still "...did not see anything terribly homophobic about the world..." She thought gay rights were as taken for granted as those for women. She joined them in founding this group.

Soon after its creation, OPALGA began to pressure both the village and the high school to include sexual orientation in their diversity statement. It was then that she realized there was strong opposition to what she assumed as a given. She found herself battling not only Evangelical Christians but other socially conservative Oak Parkers as well. OPALGA prevailed, but the conflict escalated to a fever pitch when it was proposed that village employee benefits be extended to people with same-sex partners and that a registry for same-sex unions be established. For Sarah, the conflict was over basic human rights and an equality for all people. For her opponents it was a moral conflict in which they strove to prevent the legalization of immorality.

While Sarah and her colleagues eventually won the battle, it made her aware of the extent of the homophobia in a place she assumed was too progressive to hold such views. Sarah continues to fight the battle against what she regards as a prejudice destructive of basic values that all Oak Parkers should espouse. She does so on a personal as well as a political level. One of her neighbors was a leader in the anti-registry movement. While their kids play together, his fear and mistrust of gays has not lessened. He is Sarah's decade long personal project. In addition, she responded to a recent article in a local newspaper in which the author attacked the efforts of OPALGA to offer counseling to young people who are questioning their own sexual identity by accusing them of "recruiting" young people into a gay lifestyle. The author suggested that if gays are genuinely interested in the welfare of the community's youth they would volunteer in the schools. Sarah took up the challenge and is organizing OPALGA members into a group of volunteers who will help children improve their reading skills.

Sarah, her partner and their children provide an useful example of how gays are redefining our notion of what constitutes a family. They are conservative in their espousal of the family values. They seek to provide an economically, socially and psychologically stable environment win which to raise their children. They are at the same time being radical in their insistence that parents of the same sex are just as capable of realizing this goal as families with parents of the opposite sex. In addition, like other good citizens, Sarah strives to be involved in her community's public life and, like her parents, it is her desire to "make a difference in the world." Like heterosexuals in Oak Park, Sarah sees herself as a full participant in the moral, social and political life of her community. Like other Oak Park gays, she seeks to fully integrate herself and her family into the larger community.

Oak Park has became very attractive to gay middle-class couples with children. They are looking for a place that is tolerant, with good housing and excellent schools. In short, their needs are very similar to many straight couples. One gay couple with two children I interviewed told me that given their busy schedule the only people they had time to socialize with these days were the parents of children the same age as theirs. Being a parent is an identity that transcends gender preference. One observer has quipped that Oak Park may be the "straightest" gay community in the U.S. I have heard numerous straight people espouse the clichéd assumption that the ideal neighbor is a professional gay couple. They have "good" taste and lots of capital to improve their property. Gay homeowners help raise the market value of the neighborhood. While the cliché annoys some gay people, it seems accurate in Oak Park.

My interest in doing an ethnographic study of gays is focused upon these folks as a test of the limits of diversity. Integration began in the 1970s as an effort to accommodate, in a constructive way, African-Americans who wanted to move into the community. The success of this movement caused a sea change in the character of the village. It became known as a place tolerant of difference that actively seeks and welcomes diversity - a "liberal place." The emergence of a gay community was an unanticipated consequence of the integration of Oak Park. In a recent issue (November 17, 1999) of the "Home Style" section of the Chicago Free Press, a weekly gay Chicago newspaper, the lead article was entitled "Pleasantville - Oak Park: Haven for Diversity and Tolerance." Author Kerrie Kennedy had many positive things to say about Oak Park as a great place to live if you are gay. Surrounding the article were several ads for Oak Park realtors. These realtors have weekly ads in all of the Chicago area gay publications.

Gay and lesbian people are not visible like African-Americans. They blend into the community except when a gay-related political issue such as the registry emerges, or in an act of public celebration like the Gay Pride Parade in Chicago, or when candidates for office seek their support or at the annual black-tie benefit gala attended by over 500 people. Oak Park, as a successful and affluent middle-class community is a place that almost naturally lends itself to assimilation. Most people who move here want to blend in. The gay community in Oak Park is not characteristic of what many straight people assume a gay community looks like. Oak Park is not a good place to live if you are gay, single and looking for an exciting night life or even if you are straight and single and wish to have your public social life near at hand. Oak Park is a quiet suburb with little in the way of a night life.

The question that must arise is how different do you need to be to have a gay identity? Is being gay only relevant in the bedroom and when it comes to equal civil-rights issues? This is an issue with no easy answer and one that has perplexed all minority groups since the idea of a melting pot became questioned. What does it mean to be Jewish, Irish-American, or Vietnamese in the U.S.? How assimilated can you be and still retain your minority identity? (Rubin 1995). Identity politics consumes the consciousness of most of us. For gays as for others, it is a matter of overcoming prejudices and unequal laws before they can deal with whether or not they wish to be like everyone else.

I find observing and studying how the issues discussed above will play themselves out in Oak Park to be fascinating, especially when most of the social science studies have concentrated on the single life in gay "ghettos" like the Castro district in San Francisco and Greenwich Village in New York City and the construction of gay and lesbian marriages and families. The social life of gay couples living in a suburb is a topic almost unknown in the literature. It is my plan to continue this exploration wherever it takes me.

References Cited

Dunlap, David W.
1996 Gay Parents Ease Into Suburbia: For the First Generation, Car Pools and Soccer Games. New York Times 16 May.

Goodwin, Carol
1979 Oak Park Strategy: Community Control of Racial Change. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Lynch, Frederick
1992 Nonghetto Gays: An Ethnography of Suburban Homosexuals. In Gay Culture in America, Gil Herdt, editor. Boston: Beacon Press. pgs. 165-201

Rubin, Barry M.
1995 Assimilation and its Discontents. New York: Random House.