Before the United States of America was formed or even recognized as a country, people of color, especially African Americans faced slavery and segregation. The evolution of our laws over time may have ended slavery and segregation; however, racism and discrimination exist in many forms in our society today. Like those people of color, another marginalized group has existed throughout time, the LGBTQIA+ community. These two communities, although different from one another, face racism and/or discrimination similarly. Imagine combining being African American and being homosexual; the unique discrimination they face is one that cannot be compared. It’s well known that African Americans face racism and discrimination in many social settings today, but does being gay, and African American expose people to even further discrimination than those of the white gay community?
Although discrimination faces the LGBTQIA+ community in several different ways, let’s take a dive into how hard it is to find those who are African Americans. Let’s conduct an experiment; let’s navigate over to Google and search ‘Famous Gay Men’. What do we find? Although Google claims to be diverse and inclusive when it comes to search results, when we search “famous gay men” in the Google search bar, the first nine results that show are all white gay men. It isn’t until we click ‘15 more’ that we begin to see an African American gay man; even then, there is still limited showings of those gay African Americans, since only one is displayed. Now, let’s refine our search to ‘Famous Gay People’. Of the first nine results, none are African Americans, and only two of those are women. When we click ’15 more’, of those, only one of them is African American. Now, one last search; ‘Famous Black Gay Men’. It can be noted immediately that the search term was changed to ‘Gay Black male celebrities.’ There is a stark difference in the search results; only 9 people are shown, and there are women included in the search results. With this experiment, we begin to wonder how this correlates to the treatment of African Americans in the gay community in other settings, and even amongst their own African American community.
A well-documented area of interactions where discrimination is prevalent in the African American community is also documented in the LGBTIA+ community. Police interactions are inevitable in our lifetime. These interactions, however, are less trusted by those in the LGBTQIA+ community, who are often more likely to face insulting language and physical force by police. Whether people agree with the lifestyle of those living within the LGBTQIA+ community, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (Violent Victimization by Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, 2017-2020), those who are a part of the LGBTQIA+ community are more than two times (43.5:1000) more likely to be a victim of a crime than those of the straight community (19:1000). (Truman and Morgan) Despite this higher likelihood of being a victim of a crime, the LGBTQIA+ community is less likely to report these crimes to the police. According to the ACLU, of those within the LGBTQIA+ community only 74.3% likely to report incidents compared to the non-LGBTQIA+ people at 80.8% (Policing Progress: Findings from a National Survey of LGBTQ+ People’s Experiences). In comparison, white gay people, and black gay people reported their crimes to the police at the same rate. From the same publication, 23.3% of the LBGTQIA+ respondents reported being victims of a crime compared to 14.5% of non-LGBTQIA+ members at 14.5%.
With this reporting, one would begin to wonder why those within the LGBTQIA+ community are less likely to report an incident to the police. Of those respondents, the LGBTQIA+ community reported a higher likelihood of being insulted or met with physical force (17%) by police than the 7% of non-LBGTQIA+. With this difference in treatment, nearly 10% more likely to encounter insult, or assault, we begin to understand why the LGBTQIA+ community is more hesitant to engage with the police. For the African American gay community, the percentage of insulting language is 1% less than those of the white gay community, but 8% higher than the African American non-LGBTQIA+. The gay African American community experienced physical force 7% more than those in the white gay community, and 2% higher than the African American non-LGBTQIA+. With this data, we can conclude that African American gay men are more likely to face discrimination in police interactions than those of the non-LGBTQIA African American community, and those of the white gay men.
As far back as one can remember in their employment history, there have always been the talks, videos and signage at a work site about harassment, discrimination and sexual harassment within the workplace. According to CNN, a staggering 91% of workers have faced some form of discrimination in the workplace (Engle). According to a study by the Williams Institute, 47% of LGBTQIA+ employees reported employment discrimination based on their sexual orientation. Of those, 42% were African American, and 27% were white (Sears, Castleberry and Lin). According to this same report, those within the LGBTQIA+ community avoided discrimination at work by not coming out to their supervisors. Those who were out were three times as likely to report discrimination compared to those who were not out (39% compared to 12%), and twice as likely to report harassment (42% compared to 17%) according to their sexual orientation or gender identity as LGBTQIA+. Overall, African American LGBTQIA+ community was 11% more likely than the white community to experience any form of discrimination and/or harassment. Notably, the African American LGBTQIA+ community was 9% more likely to experience verbal harassment than those of the white LGBTQIA+ community, 13% more likely to be fired, and 13% less likely to be hired than those in the white LGBTQIA+ community. With this data, we can conclude that African American gay men are far more likely to face some form of discrimination or harassment in the workplace than those in the white LGBTQIA+ community.
Workplace discrimination can trickle down and have a direct affect on the economic development of the LGBTQIA+ community. According to the Williams Institute study mentioned above, between 28% and 30% of those who identify as LGBTQIA+ face discrimination which prevents them from being hired or promoted and being fired by an employer. The next question is, does this correlate with the poverty rates? According to the Williams Institute, in a separate report, those who identify as LGBTQIA+ experience poverty at 21.6% compared to those who identify as straight at 15.7% (Badgett, Choi and Wilson). Of these respondents, 30.8% identified as being an African American LGBTQIA+ community member, double that of the white LGBTQIA+ community at 15.4%.
The question posed was, although African American LGBTQIA+ community members, and White LGBTQIA+ community members face racism and discrimination, similarly, are those African American LGBTQIA+ community members affected more often in these social settings, and situations more often than the White LGBTQIA+ community members. With these studies conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the ACLU and the Williams institute, it can be argued that with the data presented, African American LGBTQIA+ community members are also affected disproportionately to those of the white LGBTQIA+ community also. Even though they face discrimination similarly, the racism towards the African American community still affects decisions and outcomes more than those within the white American community. The study of how racism and discrimination at these intersections can shine some light on these less talked about forms of discrimination compared to those of other communities, even ones that consist of people of color from other ethnicities.
A look back in time reveals, even before gay marriage was legal, and long before sexual orientation was effectively added as a protected class under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, an anonymous writer begins, “discrimination against gays; it’s the same as discrimination against blacks.” According to an article written by an unknown writer in the Harvard Crimson ("Don't Compare Blacks and Gays"), “You cannot compare homosexuals to Blacks. Gays are not a race of people.” The article also claims that homosexuals are not economically oppressed. The distinction between Blacks and homosexuals ends at the similar treatment that was applied by the military to Blacks historically. While it is accurate that homosexuals are not a race of people, African Americans and homosexuals experience uniquely similar discriminations. According to UCLA School of Law, the Williams Institute, 34% of LBGTQIA+ employees experienced at least one firm of employment discrimination (being fired, not hired, or not promoted). Of those, 21% report being fired, 23% report not being hired, and/or 22% report not being promoted. While there is no dispute that African Americans disproportionately experience economic oppression, those within the LGBTQIA+ community, experience those issues similarly.
In a country where there is systemic racism and continued efforts by the public to discriminate against, and commit hate crimes against the African American community, what can we do to fix it? The journey will be hard, considering there are still laws in place that actively discriminate against the African American community. 1) The most important step to take is to ensure that we are educated as a society. Education is crucial to enact change and lead a progressive society. 2) Representation in the government is crucial to ensure the voices of the African American community continue to be heard. 3) Most importantly, effect change within our government by electing representatives that understand that systemic racism exists, and are willing to fight to make the changes necessary.
Badgett, M. V. Lee, Soon Kyu Choi and Bianca D. M. Wilson. "LGBT Poverty in the United States." Research. UCLA School of Law Williams Institute, October 2019. <https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/National-LGBT-Poverty-Oct-2019.pdf>.
Engle, Isabel. "... here’s what employees can do, expert says: ‘No. 1 is to speak up and document things’." ... here’s what employees can do, expert says: ‘No. 1 is to speak up and document things’ 27 July 2023. <https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/27/9percent-of-workers-havent-faced-discrimination-expert-on-what-to-do.html>.
Grasso, Jordan, et al. "Policing Progress: Findings from a National Survey of LGBTQ+ People’s Experiences." 2024. 29 November 2024. <https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2024/04/ACLU-Policing-Progress.pdf>.
Sears, Brad, et al. "LGBTQ People’s Experiences of Workplace Discrimination and Harassment." 2023. 29 November 2024. <https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Workplace-Discrimination-Aug-2024.pdf>.
Truman, Jennifer L and Rachel E. Morgan. Violent Victimization by Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, 2017-2020. June 2022. US Department of Justice. 29 November 2024. <https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/vvsogi1720.pdf>.