Gay Black Men’s Experiences of Racism From the LGBT Community: Impact on Wellbeing

Qualitative research suggests gay Black men experience various types of prejudice due to their multiple minority identities (e.g., racial and gay) from various outgroups (e.g., straight and white) and even ingroups (e.g., Black community and LGBT community). Other research suggests that ingroup rejection should be more negatively affecting than rejection that comes from the outgroup. In this pilot study we examined the relationship between ingroup (LGBT) racism and the wellbeing and group identification of gay Black men. After controlling for other sources of prejudice (e.g., White and Straight individuals) racism from the LGBT community continued to be related to various indicators of poor wellbeing. Unexpected findings demonstrated prejudice due to sexuality continued to be related to poor well being when controlling for other sources of prejudice. The findings of this study provide preliminary data that support the relationship between ingroup prejudice and lower wellbeing. Future research will assess quantitatively how racism from the LGBT community affects the wellbeing of gay Black men along with sexual prejudice that comes from the Black community