The author draws from a qualitative study of 30 Black, gay-identified, urban men to capture the intersection of race and sexuality in their life histories. He finds that Black gay men encounter a disruptive, deep-cutting “push” out of local community institutions—including the family and church—but a highly conflicted and ambiguous “pull” into urban gay communities—including the predominantly White, urban, gay institutions of downtown Manhattan. These conditions situate Black gay men on the horns of a dilemma, alienated from Black communities because of their homosexual desires and unevenly integrated into urban gay communities because of their race. Consequently, these men experience protracted struggles over their sexual identities, found it difficult to develop socially supportive gay networks, and experienced problems with psychological adjustment and repair in urban gay communities. The author underscores the importance of capturing the nexus of race and homosexuality through analysis of changing institutional dimensions over the life history.
Anderson, E. (1990). Streetwise: Race, class and change in an urban community. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
2.
Bagley, C.A., & Carroll, J.E. (1998). Healing forces in Black families. In H. I. McCubbin, E. A. Thompson , & A. I. Thompson (Eds.), Resiliency in African-American families (pp. 117-143). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
3.
Battle, J., Bennett, N., & Shaw, T. (2004). From the closet to a place at the table: Past, present, and future assessments of social science research on African American lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations. African American ResearchPerspectives, 10(1), 9-26.
4.
Bonilla, L., & Porter, J. (1990). A comparison of Latino, Black and non-Hispanic White attitudes toward homosexuality. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 12(4), 437-452.
5.
Bowser, B. (1994). Black sexuality throughout the life-course. In A. Rossi (Ed.), Sexuality across the life course (pp. 127-150). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
6.
Boykin, K. (1996). One more river to cross: Black and gay in America . New York: Anchor Books.
7.
Cochran, S., & Mays, V. (2001). Sociocultural facets of the Black gay male experience . In M. Kimmel & M. Messner (Eds.), Men's lives (pp. 429-436). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
8.
Connell, R. (1992). A very straight gay: Masculinity, homosexual experience, and the dynamics of gender. American Sociological Review, 57, 735-751.
9.
Dowsett, G. (1996). Practicing desire: Homosexual sex in the era of AIDS. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
10.
Edwards, A. (2000). Religion. In A. Jarrett (Ed.), The impact of macro social systems on ethnic minorities in the United States (pp. 229-265). Westport, CT. : Praeger.
11.
Elder, G.H., Jr. (1974). Children of the Great Depression: Social change in life experience. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
12.
Ernst, F., Francis, R., Nevels, H., & Lemeh, C. (1991). Condemnation of homosexuality in the Black community: A gender-specific phenomenon?Archives of Sexual Behavior , 20(6), 579-585.
13.
Fitzgerald, F. (1986). Cities on a hill. New York : Simon & Schuster.
14.
Gibbs, J. (1997). African-American suicide: A cultural paradox. Suicide andLife Threatening Behavior, 27(1), 68-79.
15.
Gilkes, C.T. (1995). The storm and the light: Church, family, work, and social crisis in the African American experience. In N. Ammerman & W. Clark (Eds.), Roof, work, family and religion in contemporary society (pp. 179-198). New York: Routledge .
16.
Harper, P. (1991). Eloquence and epitaph: Black nationalism and the homophobic impulse in response to the death of Max Robinson. Social Text, 28, 68-86.
17.
Hawkeswood, W.G. (1996). One of the children: Gay Black men in Harlem. Berkeley: University of California Press .
18.
Hemphill, E. (1992). Ceremonies. New York: Plume.
19.
Herdt, G. (1992). “Coming out” as a rite of passage: A Chicago study. In G. Herdt (Ed.), Gay culture in America: Essays from the field. Boston: Beacon.
20.
Herdt, G., & Boxer, A. (1992). Introduction: Culture, history, and the life course of gay men. In G. Herdt (Ed.), Gay culture in America: Essays from the field (pp. 1-28). Boston : Beacon.
21.
Hill, S. (2001). Class, race, and gender dimensions of child rearing in African American families. Journal of Black Studies, 31(4), 494-508.
22.
Hill-Collins, P. (1990). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. New York: Routledge.
23.
Hines, P.M., Garcia-Preto, N., McGoldrick, M., Almeida, R., & Weltman, S. (1997). Integenerational relationships across cultures . In A. Skolnick & J. Skolnick (Eds.), Families in transition (pp. 338-356). New York: Longman.
24.
Icard, L. (1986). Black gay men and conflicting social identities: Sexual orientation versus racial identity. Journal of Social Work and Human Sexuality, 4, 83-93.
25.
Johnson, J. (1981). The influence of assimilation on the psychosocial adjustment of Black homosexual men. Doctoral dissertation, California School of Professional Psychology, Berkeley .
26.
Johnstone, R. (2000). Sexual and ethnic scripts in the context of African American culture. Alternate Routes, 16, 5-8.
27.
Klassen, A.D., Williams, C.J., & Levitt, E.E. (1989). Sex and morality in the U. S.: An empirical enquiry under the auspices of the Kinsey Institute. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
28.
Laumann, E., & Gagnon, J. (1995). A sociological perspective on sexual action. In R. Parker & J. Gagnon (Eds.), Conceiving sexuality: Approaches to sex research in a postmodern world (pp. 183-213). New York: Routledge.
29.
Lewis, D. (1994). Black women at risk: Notes on the sociocultural context of HIV infection. In B. Schneider & N. E. Stoller (Eds.), Women resisting AIDS: Feminist strategies of empowerment (pp. 57-74). Philadelphia : Temple University Press.
30.
Lincoln, E.C., & Mamiya, L. (1990). The Black church in the African American experience . Durham, NC: Duke University Press .
31.
Luna, A. (1998). Gay racism. In S. Kimmel, S. Michael, & M. A. Messner (Eds.), Men's lives (4th ed., pp. ). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
32.
McGoldrick, M., Pearce, J. K., & Giordano, J. (Eds.). (1996). Ethnicity and family therapy (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford.
33.
Murray, S. (1992). Components of gay community in San Francisco. In G. Herdt (Ed.), Gay culture in America: Essays from the field (pp. 107-146). Boston: Beacon.
34.
Nardi, P. (1992). Men's friendships. London: Sage.
35.
Peterson, J.L. (1992). Black men and their same-sex desires and behaviors . In G. Herdt (Ed.), Gay culture in America: Essays from the field (pp. 147-164). Boston: Beacon.
36.
Peterson, J., & Hays, R. (1994). Prevention for gay and bisexual men in metropolitan cities. In R. DiClemente & J. Peterson (Eds.), Preventing AIDS: Theories and methods of behavioral intervention (pp. 267-291). New York: Plenum.
37.
Plummer, K. (1975). Sexual stigma. Boston: Routledge.
38.
Rich, A. (1990). Compulsory heterosexuality and lesbian existence . Signs, 5, 631-660.
39.
Rubin, D.C. (1986). Autobiographical memory. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
40.
Siegel, K., & Epstein, J. (1996). Ethnic-racial differences in psychological stress related to gay lifestyle among HIV positive men. Psychological Reports, 79(1), 303-312.
41.
Soares, J.V. (1979). Black and gay. In M. Levine (Ed.), Gay men: The sociology of male homosexuality (pp. 263-274). New York: Harper & Row.
42.
Staples, R. (1978). The Black family: Essays and studies. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
43.
Stokes, J., & Peterson, J. (1998). Homophobia, self esteem, and risk for HIV among Black men who have sex with men. AIDS Education and Prevention , 10(3), 278-292.
44.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research. Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
45.
Taylor, R.J., Chatters, L.M., Jayakody, R., & Levin, J.S. (1996). Black and White differences in religious participation: A multisample comparison. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 35(4), 403-410.
46.
Taylor, R.J., Mattis, J., & Chatters, L.M. (1999). Subjective religiosity among African Americans: A synthesis of findings from five national samples . The Journal of Black Psychology, 25(4), 524-543.
47.
Watters, J.K., & Biernacki, P. (1989). Targeted sampling: Options and considerations for the study of hidden populations. Social Problems, 36, 416-430.
48.
West, C. (1993). Race matters. Boston: Beacon.
49.
Wilson, W.J. (1987). The truly disadvantaged: The inner city, the underclass, and public policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
