Gay and racist
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Our previous analyses of whether there were differences between LGBT and non-LGBT adults within each racial group revealed a complex narrative on the role of LGBT status within racial groupings in the U.S. While White and Asian-American LGBT adults consistently fared significantly worse than their non-LGBT counterparts on economic and health indicators, the story was less consistent among other racialized groups.
As part of informing an intersectional perspective to address inequities among oppressed groups, it is important for future research to continue highlighting the outcomes and indicators of well-being in which belonging to more than one marginalized group in the U.S. does or does not produce exponential disparities.
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Brigitte Bardot died on December 28 aged 91, following months of declining health.
The French actress, who was best known for her work in And God Created Woman, had faced two recent hospitalizations in the months leading up to her passing.
Her cause of death has not yet been revealed.
However, following the star's death, her controversial past has once again been brought to light, one mired with racism, homophobia, and anti-feminism.
From the 1990s, the famed actress had been convicted five times in French courts for "inciting racial hatred." These convictions stem from her criticisms of immigration, Islam, and the ritual slaughter of animals by Muslims in France.
Those findings possibly point to the ways LGBT status varies as a driving force behind economic and health issues for racialized minority groups. Leaders like Marsha P Johnson, Stormé DeLarverie, Miss Major and several other Black transgender and queer people were on the front line for those six nights in the summer of 1969. Regardless of these complexities, the data point to the need for social and policy interventions that address economic and health disparities along racial, gender and LGBT statuses, separately and at their intersection.
Introduction
“No issue has proved more vexing to this nation than the issue of race.”
Race is arguably the most distinguishing factor delineating the U.S.
population’s health,, economic state,, and freedom. For example, more POC LGBT adults are under 30 years old, live in urban areas, and are single. This is not to say that marriage equality isn’t important, but it is certainly not the only fight. Also in line with previous research, more women report experiencing depression than men, with White women reporting this most.
Source: Gallup, 2012-2017
Note: * indicates that estimates for POC LGBT and White LGBT (“All” group) are statistically different; POC includes respondents who identify as Asian/Asian American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Black, Latinx, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and Multiracial.
Diversity of Experience Among LGBT People of Color
Asian American LGBT people tend to have similar economic and often better health outcomes compared to White LGBT people, a finding that is reflected in the larger literature regardless of LGBT status.
For example, a higher percent of POC LGBT adults reported experiencing discrimination in the past year (78% vs 68%), a major financial crisis (35% vs 26%), and felt they were alone too much (56% vs 50%). But while June has become a month-long celebration for many, it’s apparent that we currently have two different prides occurring.
While rainbows are replacing corporation logos across the nation, Black folks like myself are attending rallies for the death of our trans sisters — most recently Layleen Polanco Xtranveganza, who was found dead in her jail cell in Rikers Island, and Zoe Spears, who was shot to death on June 15.
But there are other core differences among people of color that warrant highlighting. Although we all share the same oppressors, white queer folks must come to terms with the fact that they play a role in the harm experienced by Black and Brown queer folks — a problem they could stop if they acknowledge the privilege they have, this month and every month.
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When looking across the specific health conditions (e.g., asthma, heart disease, diabetes, cancer), health behaviors (smoking, drinking), and stigmatized health factors (weight, disability) from the prior reports in the series, there is no consistent set of health factor differences across race among LGBT adults that may easily explain the higher percentage of fair and poor health reported by POC people.
Mental health is one domain of health outcomes in which racial minorities do not consistently fare worse than White respondents.
With regard to gender, LGBT women of color report higher rates of many mental health and economic outcomes than their male counterparts, but this is not always the case. We watch violence occurring at alarming rates in the Black queer community while rainbow capitalism continues to dominate an “inclusion” conversation that never seems to include us.
While Black queer people are still fighting for survival, white queer people were fighting for marriage equality.
For example, 47% of POC LGBT adults were living in a low-income household compared to 36% of White LGBT adults. We have long been burdened with the work of removing homophobia from Black communal spaces while also taking up the fight against racism in all spaces. In some areas, LGBT POC people fared worse than their White counterparts.
Gay bar Number 9 in D.C. used to charge a cover only on Fridays — the night that the crowd was primarily Black. Additionally, her third husband, Bernard d'Ormale, was a former advisor to the party's founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Away from politics, Brigitte further faced controversy in her personal life, especially surrounding her son, whom she has openly admitted wanting to abort.
Brigitte famously resented her pregnancy with her only son, Nicolas Charrier, describing it as an "ordeal" and comparing it to a "tumor." In 1997, she also faced a lawsuit regarding her words about her son and his father, as she wrote she would have preferred to "give birth to a little dog." They were awarded damages for emotional distress.