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All facts about Jeffrey Dahmer and his sexuality

Between 1978 and 1991, convicted serial killer and sex offender Jeffrey Dahmer killed 17 men. He was murdered in 1994 by another prisoner.  The LGBTQ+ community has had a wound reopened by Jeffrey's case, but many are also wondering if Jeffrey was gay. Continue reading to learn more about his sexual preference.

I. Is Jeffrey Dahmer gay? 

Yes, the notorious "Milwaukee Cannibal" or "Milwaukee Monster" known as Jeffrey Dahmer was a gay serial killer. 17 men and boys, many of whom were gay and men of color, were murdered and dismembered by the sex offender. If you've been paying close attention to Jeffrey's case, you may be aware that before killing his victims, Jeffrey took nude photos of them and even took pictures of each step of their dismemberment.

 Is Jeffrey Dahmer gay?

In the course of the investigation, police discovered numerous human body parts in his apartment, including preserved penises, two human hearts, and an entire torso. Later murders committed by Jeffery frequently involved cannibalism, necrophilia, and the permanent preservation of body parts, usually the entire or part of the skeleton.

This incident left the LGBT community in Milwaukee in disarray. The incident, according to drag performer B.J Daniels, "fetishizes this whole horrible moment in Milwaukee history," It's improper to view it that way; it feels wholly inappropriate. The issue of "interracial gay desire" came under discussion after Dahmer's arrest. 

If you didn't know, not much was said about Jeffrey's sexual orientation during his trial. According to a study titled "The Racialization of Sexuality: The Queer Case of Jeffrey Dahmer," "homosexual overkill" was omitted from the case's media reports. 

As fans of true crime know, Jeffrey Dahmer was gay, but what might surprise you is how his family found out and how they responded given their traditional values.

II. Jeffrey Dahmer’s life & family

1. Who was Jeffrey Dahmer? 

Between 1978 and 1991, American serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer murdered 17 males. Over a period of more than 13 years, Dahmer stalked men, primarily of African American descent, at gay bars, shopping centers, and bus stops. He then lured them home with promises of money or sex, gave them alcohol that was drugged, and strangled them to death. He would perform sexual acts on the corpses after which he would dismember them and dispose of them, frequently keeping the skulls or genitalia as mementos. He frequently captured his victims in various stages of the murder process on camera, allowing him to later recall and relive each act. 

Who was Jeffrey Dahmer?

In 1991, Dahmer was apprehended and given 16 life sentences. In 1994, fellow prisoner Christopher Scarver killed him.

However, it seems that the dissolution of his parents' marriage and their contentious divorce a few years later may have been the catalyst for turning these thoughts into deeds. Dahmer claims that his compulsions toward necrophilia and murder began around the age of 14. 

Dahmer's alcohol consumption had run amok by the time of his first murder. His recently remarried father insisted that he join the Army, so he left Ohio State University after just one quarter. Late in December 1978, Dahmer enlisted, and shortly after, he was assigned to Germany. 

His drinking problem persisted, and the Army discharged him in the beginning of 1981. Although German authorities later looked into possible connections between Dahmer and murders that happened nearby at the time, it is not thought that he committed any more killings while he was a member of the military. 

Dahmer went back to his Ohio home after receiving his discharge. Dahmer's father sent him to live with his grandmother in Wisconsin after he was arrested later that year for disorderly behavior, but his drinking problem persisted and he was arrested for indecent exposure the following summer. When two boys accused him of masturbating in front of them in 1986, he was arrested once more. He was sentenced to a year of probation.

2. What was Jeffrey's family's response?

When Jeffrey Dahmer was found guilty of sexual assault and enticing a child for immoral purposes in 1989, he first acknowledged being gay. The Milwaukee Murders: Nightmare in Apartment 213: the Twisted True Story of the "Real-life Hannibal Lecter," written by Don Davis in 1992, makes reference to this. According to the book, he disclosed his orientation in order to get a much lighter sentence. 

When he drugged Konerak Sinthasomphone, a 14-year-old boy who was later murdered by him, he came out as gay. John Balcerzak, the arresting officer, chose to let Jeffrey take Konerak with him rather than arresting him. To avoid saving the child, John even made "homophobic jokes" with this other officer. 

Regarding Jeffrey's parents' views on his sexual orientation, readers also frequently wonder. Although his mother Joyce Flint supported him being gay, Dahmer's father Lionel was not accepting of his sexuality. According to a book titled "Milwaukee Massacre: Jeffrey Dahmer and the Milwaukee Murders," Jeffrey Dahmer's fundamentalist Christian father, Lionel, frequently made disparaging remarks about gay men and lesbians throughout Dahmer's childhood and continued to do so even after Dahmer was found guilty.

III. Jeffrey Dahmer's love life was twisted

Dahmer never married because he had no romantic feelings for women. A forensic psychiatrist named Carl Wahlstrom who examined Darmer noted that Jeffrey had an unusually high libido for a young adolescent. As a young teenager, he started to have fantasies about killing men and having sex with their bodies.

Jeffrey almost carried out his murderous impulses as a teen. He had feelings for a man who was jogging and one day set up an ambush to catch the man. The jogger didn't run that day, though, which most likely saved his life. After being found guilty of sexual assault and enticing a child for immoral purposes in 1989, Dahmer came out as gay to a judge for the first time.

Dahmer had numerous romantic relationships but never engaged in sexual activity. There is no evidence that Jeffrey Dahmer ever had a wife or was romantically involved with a woman. Despite being gay, Jeffrey kept his attraction to men hidden from his parents. 

At the Milwaukee Ambrosia Chocolate Factory, Dahmer turned down numerous advances from men. At gay bars, he had his first sex experiences, but he was disappointed in how his partners treated him. 

Beginning with drugs, Dahmer began having sex with unconscious men. He was detained in September 1986 for masturbating in front of two boys who were 12 years old. He was given probation and a year of mental health counseling by the court.

Young men Dahmer seduced in gay bars made up the majority of his victims. Before strangling them, having sex with their corpses, and dismembering them, he would drug them. 

IV. Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims & imprisonment

17 men were killed by Dahmer between 1978 and 1991. He took care to choose outcast victims who were frequently vagabonds or borderline criminals so that their disappearances would go unnoticed and lessen the chance that he would be apprehended. He used promises of money or sex to entice them to his house, where he strangled them to death. He performed sex acts on their bodies and kept photos and body parts as mementos.

Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims & imprisonment

Dahmer initially entered a not guilty plea to all charges despite having admitted to the murders while being questioned by police. In the end, he decided to plead guilty due to insanity. The horrifying details of his actions were then presented in his defense as evidence that only a madman could have committed such heinous acts.

The prosecution's claim that Dahmer was fully aware of the evilness of his deeds but still decided to carry them out was accepted by the jury. After deliberating for about 10 hours, they came back on February 15, 1992, and found him guilty but sane on all charges. He was given a 15-life sentence, with the option of an additional 16-life sentence added in May. 

Dahmer reportedly adapted well to prison life despite being initially segregated from the rest of the inmates. He eventually persuaded the guards to let him interact with the other prisoners more. He discovered religion through books and pictures that his father had sent, and the Columbia Correctional Institution gave him permission to be baptized by a local minister.

V. Jeffrey Dahmer Movies & Books

Popular books on Dahmer include: 

  • Donald A. Davis' book The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: An American Nightmare. It was released in November 1991, just a few months after Dahmer's detention. 

  • Brian Masters wrote The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer, which was released in 1993. 

  • Popular movies about Dahmer's life and murderous rampage include: 

  • Jeremy Renner starred in the 2002 biographical film Dahmer. 

  • The summer following Dahmer's arrest in 1991 is covered in the 2012 documentary The Jeffrey Dahmer Files. 

  • The 2017 movie My Friend Dahmer, which is based on Derf Backderf's 2012 graphic novel of the same name, is about Dahmer's alcoholic adolescent years before he started killing people.

# Source : 

- Here’s Why Jeffrey Dahmer Never Came Out to His Parents & How His Family Reacted When They Found Him With a Man https://stylecaster.com/jeffrey-dahmer-gay/ - Archived : OCT 07, 2022 - Visit : Feb 4 2023.

- Jeffrey Dahmer https://www.biography.com/crime/jeffrey-dahmer - Archived : AUG 14, 2021 - Visit :  Feb 4 2023.