Jeffery McCune conducted an ethnographic study of gay black men in a Chicago nightclub. He details a space in which their same-sex desires could be comfortably expressed and interactional work to present a conventionally masculine, heterosexual identity was no longer required. What sociological concept is demonstrated by the efforts to maintain a heterosexual persona?

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The concept demonstrated by the efforts to maintain a heterosexual persona is passing. Passing refers to the act of presenting oneself as a member of a different racial, ethnic or social group other than the one that they belong to, in order to avoid discrimination or persecution. In this case, the gay black men in the Chicago nightclub were engaging in passing by presenting a conventionally masculine, heterosexual identity, in order to avoid discrimination and ostracism.

Jeffery McCune Conducted an Ethnographic Study of Gay Black Men