Sexuality scholars largely neglect interracial intimacy in the United States as a
site worthy of sustained empirical research. Consequently, monoraciality is not
adequately problematized or identified as a racial prerequisite to fundamental
heterosexual privileges. Further, by implicitly constructing same-sex couples as
monoracial, scholars fail to consider how heterosexuality and White supremacy
together saturate public spaces to render queer interraciality profoundly invisible.
In this essay I critique the monoracial bias of sexuality research by analyzing
interracial narratives on the topic of visibility. Using in-depth qualitative
interviews with four heterosexual and four same-sex interracial couples, I argue
that for interracial partners a paradoxical tension surrounds visibility. Though
couples may seek public affirmation of intimate relationships, for both heterosexual
and queer interracial couples, public recognition risks harassment or violence.
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