Queer and Black: How Black LGBT Students Navigate Life

This study will explore how young queer black students conceptualize their blackness in relation to other aspects of their identity. We will conduct in-depth interviews with several university students between the ages of 18 and 24 who self-identify as Black and as members of the LGBTQ+ community. There is a lot of discrimination in the Black community towards Black people who identify as LGBTQ+; the high levels of religiosity present in Black culture (Sherkat, 2002) as well as the emphasis on preserving Black male masculinity in the face of dehumanizing and emasculating oppression (Kilanski, 2003; Riggs et. al. 2004) contributes to the homophobia. As a result, homophobia has remained prevalent in many Black spaces, a fact which alienates Black LGBTQ+ members. However, while many non-Black LGBTQ+ people can find safety and acceptance within the LGBTQ+ community, there is still an element of racism that exists within the LGBTQ+ community which still ostracizes Black members. Queer Black youths must then navigate these two communities which often oppose each other and the youths themselves. Through this study we hope to understand this process of navigation and how it affects their identity, experiences, and worldviews.