Penelitian ini membahas mengenai pengalaman hidup lelaki gay dalam konteks Indonesia dalam membangun narasi resistensi dan kontestasi identitas demi melawan budaya kelompok dominan. Menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan paradigma kritis serta desain fenomenologi, peneliti melakukan wawancara mendalam dengan lima lelaki gay yang tinggal di berbagai kota di Indonesia. Melalui Teori Ruang Ketiga yang dicetuskan Homi K. Bhabha, peneliti mampu mengeksplorasi bagaimana individu membangun narasi resistensi berbentuk mimikri untuk mengganggu relasi kuasa budaya dominan. Ada empat narasi resistensi yang dibangun melalui praktik komunikasi dalam ruang publik, yakni: edukasi, aktivisme, keterbukaan identitas seksual, serta keterlibatan dalam hubungan sesama jenis. Selain itu, peneliti juga mengeksplorasi bagaimana individu dapat menciptakan ruang ketiga dan hibriditas untuk mendestabilisasi identitasnya sebagai "gay" atau "warga Indonesia", dan justru menggabungkan keduanya dalam ruang intrapersonal. Identitas hibrid tersebut diciptakan melalui kontestasi hegemoni heteronormatif, norma agama, dan nasionalitas. Pada akhirnya, individu dapat merekonstruksi dan meredefinisi identitasnya melalui narasi resistensi terhadap budaya dominan, dimana mereka dapat menciptakan kekuasaannya sendiri di dalam ruang ketiga.
This research discusses the lived-experiences of Indonesian gay men and how they created resistance narratives and contested identities to counter the dominant group culture. Using a qualitative approach with a critical paradigm and phenomenology design, researcher conducted in-depth interviews with five gay men who live in various cities in Indonesia. Through employing Third Space Theory by Homi K. Bhabha, researcher manages to explore how individuals built the resistance narratives in the form of mimicry to disrupt the power dynamics of the dominant culture. There are four resistance narratives created through communication practices in the public space, which are: education, activism, openness about sexual orientation, and engagement in same-sex relationships. Aside from that, researcher also explores how Indonesian gay men can construct the third space and hybridity to destabilize their fixed identity as a "gay" or "Indonesian", and mix it instead in the intrapersonal space. Hybrid identity is constructed through the contestation of hegemonic heteronormativity, religious norms, and nationality. In the end, Indonesian gay men are able to reconstruct and redefine their identities through the resistance narratives against the dominant culture, where they can build their own power in the third space.