The Intersection of Sociocultural Factors and Health-Related Behavior in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth

Abstract

Intersectionality is a theoretical framework that suggests that multiple social identities – e.g. race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation – intersect at the individual or micro level of experience and reflects larger social-structural inequities experienced on the macro level. This article uses an intersectionality framework to describe how multiple stigmatized social identities can create unique challenges for Young Black gay and bisexual men (YBGBM) as an example. YBGBM exist at the intersection of multiple stigmatized identities compared to their majority peers. There is limited health-focused research on the intersecting identities of YBGBM. Using the lens of intersectionality to understand challenges to health-related behaviors and threats to health and well-being for YBGBM may reveal key opportunities for prevention and intervention for YBGBM and other gay and bisexual men from other ethnic groups. In this article, we examine the key intersecting identities (race, sexual identity, socioeconomic status, and cultural expectations (such as gender norms/masculinity, religious morality), that exist in YBGBM and how those factors may predispose young men to adverse health outcomes and health inequality.

Exploring the Sexual Development Experiences of Black Bisexual Male Adolescents Over Time

“…Young men in this sample described gender role expectations, disbelief in bisexuality as a sexual orientation and homophobia as contextual features of their adolescent sexual development. The intersectionality framework may be especially useful for racial and sexual minority youth workers and clinicians in considering the experiences at the center of overlaping identities, i.e., Black, bisexual, and male (Fields et al, 2016). This developmental experience which prior work has documented as often occurring within homophobic, sexist and racist social contexts (Friedman et al, 2014; Jamil et al, 2009; Malebranche, 2008) may impact one’s ability to articulate and describe one’s sexual orientation.…”

“…Wilson’s dynamic ecological model considers ethnic, masculine, and identity formation as overlapping and intersectional processes which can carry conflicting meanings and expectations contributing to bisexual behaviors. Toomey et al (2017) suggest that role expectations within racial–ethnic identities and cultural norms (Jamil et al, 2009), as well as expectations of masculinity (Fields, Morgan, & Sanders, 2016; Fields et al, 2015) may play an important role in the development of dimensions of sexual orientation during adolescence.…”

“It's Almost Like a Crab-in-a-Barrel Situation”: Stigma, Social Support, and Engagement in Care Among Black Men Living With HIV

“…Similarly, Black men living with HIV may experience racism outside the Black community (Hirschfield & Piquero, 2010), which can be associated with ART nonadherence among Black PLWH (Bogart et al, 2015). Black gay, bisexual, and other MSM may experience social isolation and lack of social support from Black communities and consistently report the absence of organized communities and opportunities to connect with one another (Fields, Morgan, & Sanders, 2016; P. A. Wilson et al, 2016b).…”

La perspectiva feminista de la interseccionalidad en el campo de la salud pública: revisión narrativa de las producciones teórico-metodológicas

“…En este eje temático sobresalen estudios en áreas como género, salud de la mujer y violencia (30,31,32,33,39,40,43) , raza, etnicidad y minorías culturales (27,34,35) , VIH-sida (28,37,38,42) , salud de poblaciones LGBT (29,36,41) . En toda esta producción, los marcadores de diferenciación social sobresalen como modeladores de las desigualdades sociales.…”

“…Los estudios que utilizan la temática LGBT con el objetivo de contribuir al debate teórico-metodológico de la interseccionalidad en la salud pública y la salud colectiva señalaron las obliteraciones realizadas en las investigaciones de las diferencias significativas al interior de los grupos, homogeneizadoras de las múltiples experiencias vividas por sus integrantes, uniformizando el perfil de los investigados como blanco, de clase media y detentor de privilegios sociales (29,36,41) . Se discuten metodologías que, aunque incipientes, son utilizadas para producir datos sensibles a las diferencias internas a los grupos LGBT (29,36,41) . Fish (29) , por ejemplo, muestra que en el Reino Unido hay dificultad para la obtención de muestras representativas de salud de lesbianas negras y de minorías étnicas, ya que al ser la orientación sexual autoinformada, y dados los importantes constreñimientos del contexto social por los que atraviesa su revelación, en general es omitida.…”