Cirrus@Austlit

'A few years ago I was diagnosed with a serious intermittent mental illness, and I made a decision not to rush to publicise it. I used that experience to write a journal article, about the queer politics of disclosure of disability, which carefully avoids saying what the diagnosis was. At a personal level, I have always had mixed feelings about 'coming out'-even though it can be politically powerful to do so, it can also mean giving into the demand to narrate how you differ from the norm. With the possible exception of young men at dance and drama schools, nobody has ever had to 'come out' as straight; white Australians are not routinely asked to tell their migration stories; abled people are not required to explain how they are socially enabled, et cetera.' (Publication abstract)