Closet Cases: Queering Bioethics through Narrative

Drawing upon queer theory, this paper examines the heterosexual assumptions that underlie bioethics case narratives. These case narratives identify few individuals as having same-sex desires; it is only when homosexuals become dangerous to the straight community that they are "displayed" in bioethics cases. The perspective of same-sex desire as dangerous can be seen not only in the explicit content of these narratives but also in the sexual orientation that is implied of the reader of bioethics. In the end, bioethics case narratives reproduce rather than challenge the hetero-narrative pattern of our culture's stories.