Gays are the new blacks
Black LGBT Adults in the US
Executive Summary
Over 11.3 million LGBT adults live in the U.S.They are a part of every society throughout the country and are diverse in terms of personal characteristics, socioeconomic outcomes, health status, and lived experiences. In many ways, LGBT people are similar to their non-LGBT counterparts, but also entertainment differences that illuminate their unique needs and experiences related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
About 40% of LGBT adults are people of color, including 12% who identify as Black.In this report, we analyzed data from several sources to provide knowledge about adults who self-identify as Black and LGBT. We present an overview of their demographic characteristics and focus on several key domains of well-being, including mental health, physical health, economic health, and social and cultural experiences. In addition, we compared Black LGBT and non-LGBT adults across these indicators in order to investigate differences related to sexual orientation and gender culture among Black Americans. For several key indicators, we also compared Black LGBT and non-LGBT women and Black LGBT and non-LGBT men in order to explore diff
Religion and Coming Out Issues for African Americans
The church has traditionally informed, influenced and guided the day-to-day lives of many African Americans. "The black church is not just a place of spirituality and enlightenment, but a place of empowerment for African Americans," says David Neale, founder of Black Lavender Resources, a consulting firm specializing in diversity within the Queer community.
Bishop Kwabena Rainey Cheeks, of Inner Light Ministries in Washington, D.C., agrees. "Spirituality is almost doomed to separate from shadowy life," says Cheeks. "The church is a stabilizing force and a place to connect not just to God but to community, as well."
Yet some in those churches possess been unwelcoming to people with a different sexual orientation or gender identity.
"The black church, the oldest institution and pillar of the black community, has historically dictated the community's stance on homosexuality — either you don't chat about it, or you condemn it," says writer and blogger Lynn d Johnson. It is daunting to come out only to face the apprehension and misunderstanding of community in general, but many LGBTQ+ African Americans must face t
Freedom Indivisible: Gays and Lesbians in the African American Civil Rights Movement
Abstract
This function documents the role of sixty gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals in the African American civil rights movement in the pre-Stonewall era. It examines the extent of their involvement from the grassroots to the highest echelons of leadership. Because many lesbians and gays were not out during their day in the movement, and in some cases had not yet identified as lesbian or gay, this work also analyzes how the civil rights movement, and in a number of cases women’s liberation, contributed to their persona formation and coming out. This work also contributes to our understanding of opposition to the civil rights movement by examining the ways in which forces opposed to racial equality used the true or perceived sexual orientation of activists against the civil rights movement. Given the primacy of religion in the civil rights movement, this work also looks at the ways religious conviction did and did not motivate lesbians and gays in the movement. It also assesses the long-term influence of religion in their lives as many of these activists went on to women’s liberation and
Racial Differences Among LGBT Adults in the US
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Overview
This final inform in the series, LGBT Well-Being at the Intersection of Race, uses statistics from the 2012-2017 Gallup Survey and the Generations/Transpop studies to assess whether LGBT people of paint (POC) differ from Alabaster LGBT people on several areas of health and socioeconomic well-being. We detect that more LGBT people of color report economic instability compared to Alabaster LGBT people on many indicators. Additionally, disparities for POC LGBT adults persist in the health domain, except for measures of depression where more Alabaster LGBT adults report having depression compared with POC LGBT adults. Further, more women of color who identify as LGBT reported living in a low-income household, and experiencing unemployment and food insecurity compared to all other groups. We also found differences in outcomes among LGBT POC on some economic and health indicators. Overall, the series of papers demonstrate that the association between race and LGBT status is a complicated one that differs by outcome and racialized community. Regardless of these complexities, the data point to the need for social and p
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