Disadvantages to the Intersectional – Being Black and Gay

Austin J Dyami Adams

Intersectionality, as described by Crenshaw and Spelman, is the notion that the identities of a

person are interdependent on one another and thus cannot be fully separated. Spelman uses an

analogy of people entering doors (singular identities), trying to prioritize which of them they identify

with most. We cannot choose, for these identities are interdependent. For example, race directly

affects the experience of being a woman. To be a woman who is Black involves different strife,

experiences, and thus identity, than a woman who is White. Because of this, Crenshaw argues, the

needs of a Black woman are inherently different from the needs of a White woman. Essentialism,

the idea that all persons of an identity group hold a universal truth about them, is thus disputed by

Crenshaw. She claims that issues portrayed to be issues of all women turn out to be only the issues

of select women, who are particularly white. As we set forth to fix issues facing women, then, issues

faced by the Black woman become ignored, either leaving her behind or further harming her.

The following analysis seeks expand this work to understand the experiential differences of

cisgender, Black gay men in society relative to their White counterparts by utilizing ideas set forth by

both Spelman and Crenshaw, and ultimately addressing Spelman’s overarching question, “Who

chooses the doors we enter, and why?” The analysis makes two claims, one of which relates to the

treatment of Black gay men, while the other suggests those ‘guarding the door,’ as Spelman would

say, are the very groups the Black gay man belongs to. To meet these objectives, it is important to

compare substantive differences between the experiences of these two men (both Black and White)

through Crenshaw’s idea of structural intersectionality, as it is the most pervasive problem facing

Black gay men today. The intersectional experiences of Black gay men are therefore the primary

topic within the analysis.

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 Disadvantages to the Intersectional – Being Black and Gay
Austin J Dyami Adams
Structural Intersectionality – Claim 1: Sexualization, Relational Disadvantages, and

Familial/Group Acceptance

Structural Intersectionality is the idea that people with two or more minority identities have

different qualitative experiences when interacting with economic arrangements, social norms, and

institutions than a sum of people who hold those identities separately from one another. Crenshaw

cited women’s shelters turning away women of color who did not speak English as an example of

different experiences within an institution. Crenshaw shows that these structures are not only

experienced differently by intersectional people, but that it also disadvantages these people while

advantaging others. For this analysis, a disadvantage is any identity-based barrier towards an equal standard or

expectation of living between two people. Disadvantages happen because the structures themselves were

built with a specific user base in mind, in which those with intersectional identities were not thought

of. This thought process is known as essentialism, which states that there is a characteristic that is

universal among all members of an identity group. It follows from essentialism that the needs

fundamental to a White woman are fundamental to a Black woman; this is false. The described

shelters, for example, were made for white, cisgender, English-speaking women in mind, so no one

thought to equip them with translators or medical personnel to care for transgender women.

Though Crenshaw further defines structural intersectionality in three realms, economic

arrangements, social norms, and institutions, Black gay men appear to face the most harm through

social norms. Black gay men are stuck in a sort of double bind, where on one side, Black men are

often stereotyped as being hypersexual and aggressive, while gay men are simultaneously portrayed

as effeminate and flamboyant. These are amplified versions of the stigmas facing White gay men and

Black straight men in general, and the intersecting identities of Black and gay layer them over each

other, forcing Black gay men to alternate between roles, as described by W.E.B Du Bois’ idea of

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Austin J Dyami Adams
double consciousness.1 Through these social norms, Black gay men seem to be affected differently

than their White counterparts in three distinct categories: dehumanization in sexualization,

relationships, and familial/group acceptance.

Among White gay men, Blacks are often either explicitly unwelcome or chased after in

sexual encounters.2 When on Grindr, a popular site for gay men nearby to meet one another, it is

common to read phrases such as “No Blacks” explicitly-yet-casually listed next to “long walks in the

park” and “good senses of humor.” Or, one might find profiles specifically in search of a “strong

and exotic Black guy.”3 While the first sentiment is arguably worse than the second, both of these

so-called ‘sexual preferences’ dehumanize Black gay men, either discriminating against them or

reducing them to fetishes.4 To dehumanize a person is to deprive them of human qualities or to treat

them as though they are not a human.5 When turning someone away due to their race or ethnicity, a

person is also dehumanizing them because they’ve failed to take their human qualities into account

and made the choice simply from the color of the other person’s skin. Similarly, when one seeks out

a person because of their race, they have again looked passed the person’s human qualities and

instead focused again on the person’s skin tone. Thus, it is not just discrimination against the Black

gay man through sexual encounters that disadvantages him, but the dehumanization through sexual

encounters. This dehumanization disallows the Black gay man to engage freely in sexual encounters

in the way the White gay man does, so he is therefore disadvantaged.

1
Burghardt Du Bois, William E., and Farah Jasmine. Griffin. The Souls of Black Folk. Barnes & Noble Classics, 2005.
2
Shield, Andrew DJ. “‘Looking for North Europeans Only’: Identifying Five Racist Patterns in an Online Subculture.”
Kult - Postkolonial Temaserie (2017): n. pag. Print.
3
Ibid
4
Raj, S (2011) Grindring Bodies: Racial and Affective Economies of Online Queer Desire. Critical Race and
Whiteness Studies, 7 (2). 1 -12. ISSN 1838-8310
5
“Dehumanize.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dehumanize.

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Austin J Dyami Adams
Black gay men are also disadvantaged in joining relationships and maintaining them in the

public sphere. Society still holds negative or bias feelings towards both same-sex couples6 and

interracial couples.7 Thus, Black gay men, on average, are offered less opportunities for relationships,

as their ‘pool’ is even more limited. While being gay or lesbian limits a person to less than 2% of the

population8, racism within the Gay Community diminishes this number further for Black gay men.

Aside from the lack of options in which Black gay men have in building relationships, they also face

external pressure that adds to the problem. Feelings towards interracial relationships and same-sex

relationships in the public sphere are generally negative, which becomes a dual burden for Black gay

men seeking relationships. On one hand, he will always face judgement and mistreatment from

homophobic people who don’t approve of same-sex relationships. On the other hand, he will also

face judgement and mistreatment from other racist people who do not wish to see him with a White

man. While the sentiments towards same-sex relationships affect all gay men, negative sentiments

towards interracial couples affects the Black gay man disproportionately. Both the White and Black

gay man have to choose to either face these mistreatments or to not be in an interracial couple. This

is problematic due to the pre-described eligibility pool being smaller for Black gay men. Because

Black men face additional obstacles when ‘coming out’ (described later), there are inherently less

Black gay men who are openly gay.9 Thus, the White gay man requires little effort to find someone

of the same race to date, while the Black gay requires much more. This is a disadvantage to Black

gay men because it limits the number of possible matches that can be made for them. Because

6
Dawn Michelle Baunach; Changing Same-Sex Marriage Attitudes in America from 1988 Through 2010, Public
Opinion Quarterly, Volume 76, Issue 2, 1 July 2012, Pages 364–378, https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfs022
7
Qian, Zhenchao. “Breaking the Last Taboo: Interracial Marriage in America.” Contexts, vol. 4, no. 4, 2005, pp. 33–
37., doi:10.1525/ctx.2005.4.4.33.
8
Ward, Brian W, et al. “Sexual Orientation and Health Among U.S. Adults.” National Health Statistics Report, no.
77, 15 July 2014, www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr077.pdf.
9
Middleton, Josh. “Young Gay Black Men Face ...” Philadelphia Magazine, Philadelphia Magazine, 25 Jan. 2013,
www.phillymag.com/g-philly/2013/01/25/young-gay-black-men-face-unique-challenges-
coming/#k1Kxgqeb56xlHZaO.99.

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 Disadvantages to the Intersectional – Being Black and Gay
Austin J Dyami Adams
relationships are mechanisms for which people can exchange care and resources, limiting the

amount of possible relationships a Black gay man can have removes possibilities for higher overall

utility from the relationship, thus disadvantaging the Black gay man.

Finally, being Black also affects the experiences of gay youth coming out to their parents. Of

all queer youth who become homeless as a result of coming out to their parents, 44% are Black,

while nearly 80% are nonwhite.10 When White gay men come out, even with familial rejection, they

often find acceptance within the Queer Community. However, with racism still pervasive in the

Queer Community, a Black gay man pushed out of his home may not find the same responsiveness.

As CNN Don Lemon echoed when he publicly announced his homosexuality, “It’s quite different

for an African-American male … [Gay is] about the worst thing you can be in Black culture.”11

Other gay men in the Black Community have shared similar feelings, pointing at mainstream Hip

Hop and R&B as outlets of homophobia and high standards of masculinity.12

Within the culture, especially in music, many Rap and Hip Hop artists have noted making

homophobic statements to embolden their image, as they recognize homosexuality equates to

femininity to many.13 Thus, they define their masculinity contrastively to their perceived femininity

of the Gay Community. This image of bolstered homophobia that exists in Black culture contributes

to the previously described double bind Black gay men find themselves in – they are too

stereotypically hyper-masculine to be humanized by White gay men, but too feminine to be

embraced by the Black community. One culture is telling them to ‘man up,’ but the other culture

10
Uwujaren, Jarune. “5 Challenges Black Gay Men Face & How You Can Support Them.” Everyday Feminism, Sexual
Minority Youth Assistance League, 27 Oct. 2014, everydayfeminism.com/2012/12/5-challenges-black-gay-men-
face/.
11
Pasetsky, Mark. “CNN's Don Lemon Trending on Twitter.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 23 May 2011,
www.forbes.com/sites/markpasetsky/2011/05/16/cnns-don-lemon-trending-on-twitter-after-coming-out-to-new-
york-times/#7991644065f8.
12
Horowitz, Steven J. “How Homophobic Is Hip-Hop in 2016?” Complex, Complex, 20 Oct. 2016,
www.complex.com/music/2016/06/how-homophobic-is-hip-hop-in-2016.
13
Ibid

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 Disadvantages to the Intersectional – Being Black and Gay
Austin J Dyami Adams
simultaneously opposes this image. While many point to cultural homophobia in the Black

Community, it is important to acknowledge that research demonstrates that African Americans

overwhelmingly support nondiscrimination laws and oppose religious exemptions higher than any

other racial group, so one should not subscribe to a false narrative that Black people themselves are

disproportionately homophobic.14 However, there clearly exists something pervasive within the

culture itself that opposes homosexuality or the characteristics often identified with them. Thus,

Black gay youth often experience more difficulty in ‘coming out’ to their familial group, as they have

more to fear, such as being kicked out of their home.15 While Rap and Hip Hop music harbor

negative sentiments towards gay men, some artists also promote violence against queer people.16

Of LGBTQ people who have experienced violent hate crimes, over 60% of them identify as

a person of color, and 50% of them identified as either Latinx or Black.17 Rap artist Kanye West

recalled a time when a fan of his repeated a violently homophobic line from one of his songs to him,

and he realized how much influence he held over his fans and their perceptions of other

communities.18 As Black gay men are increasingly subject to violence, fear of physical harm has also

become a barrier experienced by Black men disparately to White men. Here too, the Black gay man

is disadvantaged. If he ‘comes out,’ he could face significant physical harm and rejection from his

family in a way that is disproportionate to his White counterpart. However, this also forces the Black

14
Ford, Zack. “New Survey Debunks the Myth ...” Think Progress, ThinkProgress, 26 Feb. 2016,
thinkprogress.org/new-survey-debunks-the-myth-of-black-homophobia-e5066ae38aa8/.
15
Uwujaren, Jarune. “5 Challenges Black Gay Men Face & How You Can Support Them.” Everyday Feminism, Sexual
Minority Youth Assistance League, 27 Oct. 2014, everydayfeminism.com/2012/12/5-challenges-black-gay-men-
face/.
16
Horowitz, Steven J. “How Homophobic Is Hip-Hop in 2016?” Complex, Complex, 20 Oct. 2016,
www.complex.com/music/2016/06/how-homophobic-is-hip-hop-in-2016.
17
Wade, Lisa. “The Intersectionality of Hate ...” Sociological Images, The Society Pages, 22 June 2016,
thesocietypages.org/socimages/2016/06/22/the-intersectionality-of-hate-violence-against-lgbtq-people-of-color/.
18
Horowitz, Steven J. “How Homophobic Is Hip-Hop in 2016?” Complex, Complex, 20 Oct. 2016,
www.complex.com/music/2016/06/how-homophobic-is-hip-hop-in-2016.

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Austin J Dyami Adams
gay man to hide his sexual orientation for a lot longer, which is also a disadvantage, as it directly

affects his ability to seek a partner, engage sexually and intimately, and interact with a community of

similar people.

Guarding the doors – Claim 2

While understanding the structural issues facing Black gay men is important to begin

removing disadvantages they face, it is vital to look at who enforces these disadvantages. I argue that

those who create and/or enforce disadvantages to one person are those who receive advantages in

return. Thus, for those with intersectional identities, it is the multiple groups to which they belong

that actively enforce identity roles onto the person and thus create disadvantages for them.

For the Gay Community, White men often disengage with Black men in sexual encounters

and perceive Black men as hyper-masculine and overly aggressive, and they then require a level of

assimilation or abandonment of identity before the Black gay man can truly be accepted. In this way,

the White man gatekeeps the Black man from fully accessing the Gay Community, and in

assimilating, the Black man is forced to give up parts of his identity that he needs to access the Black

Community.

For the Black Community, the gay man cannot fully access the Community until he

embraces accepted characteristics and attempts to shed characteristics that are described as weak or

feminine.19 In doing this, again, the gay man is forced to remove aspects of his identity in order to

gain acceptance and avoid being disadvantaged due to them. As the two communities clash, the

Black gay man is left in the crossfire. Perhaps ironically, he is a member of both communities, but

both create disadvantages for him. In return, these communities, albeit unintentionally, gain the

advantage of preserving their long-held beliefs, biases, and social dominance.

19
Horowitz, Steven J. “How Homophobic Is Hip-Hop in 2016?” Complex, Complex, 20 Oct. 2016,
www.complex.com/music/2016/06/how-homophobic-is-hip-hop-in-2016.