Black gay teens face a number of barriers to their health and well-being. These include stigma, discrimination, and lack of access to services.
Research indicates that black gay youth experience a higher risk of depression and suicidal thoughts than heterosexual or mostly heterosexual LGBTQ teens. In addition, black LGBT youth face educational barriers and are more likely to drop out of school.
Stigma
Black LGBTQ youth experience higher rates of stigma than other racial and ethnic groups, and these negative experiences may have consequences for their health. For example, studies have found that LGBTQ youth are more likely to report self-harm, which is hurting one’s self on purpose.
This can lead to poor mental health, depression and suicidal thoughts. It also affects the likelihood of them seeking HIV testing and adherence to treatment.
In addition, black gay and bisexual teens have higher rates of incarceration and suicide than their white counterparts. These rates are believed to be linked to the stigma that these young people face.
While a large part of the stigma that black gay teens experience comes from a lack of social support, it is not the only factor. Other factors include discrimination in schools, the criminal justice system and the workplace. In addition, a high occurrence of online bullying and bias-based victimization can impact the wellbeing of black LGBTQ youth.
Gender Role Concerns
Black gay teens often face challenges with gender role expectations that conflict with their same-sex sexuality. These issues can lead to social isolation, rejection, and shame.
In addition, family conflict and other factors may make it difficult for black gay teens to meet their needs and thrive. This may lead to feelings of rejection and isolation from family and peers, which can negatively impact mental health.
Additionally, some youth experience a clash between their same-sex sexuality and cultural expectations for masculinity and religious morality. This can result in depression, suicidal thoughts, or other mental health concerns.
These findings highlight the importance of increasing access to health and mental health care for black gay teens, especially when they are experiencing mental distress. More research should be conducted to understand the specific needs of black gay teens and the best ways to address them. This can include dissemination of research findings to the youth themselves or organizations in direct contact with them.
Family Relationships
Family is a term used to describe a social unit of two people, usually a man and a woman, who live together, share resources, and raise children. It also encompasses other types of families, such as those formed by siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, and friends, among others.
Black gay teens experience a different set of family relationships than their white peers, which can make them more susceptible to discrimination and harassment. Additionally, many parents of these teens are afraid that their children will not fit the rigid expectations of exaggerated masculinity that are maintained in black communities and are hesitant to accept their sexual orientation or gender identity.
In addition, many families face challenges when interacting with the legal system, schools, health care providers and other organizations. These issues often create tensions within the family and can lead to conflict, abuse and even violence between members of the family. These experiences can negatively impact the self-esteem of black gay teens.
Self-Esteem
Despite being a part of a society that claims to value them, black gay teens often struggle with low self-esteem and feelings of disenfranchisement. Moreover, they experience frequent harassment and violence in their school environments.
This is especially true for those who are transgender or nonbinary. They are 1.75 times more likely to experience symptoms of anxiety and depression than their peers.
A study of 174 African American gay and bisexual men found that those who were well integrated into their African American and gay identity experienced higher levels of self-esteem, HIV prevention self-efficacy, stronger social support networks, life satisfaction, and lower male gender role stress than those who were less well integrated (Neblett et al., 2012).
Similarly, a recent study of 1,343 African American adolescents found that ethnic identity moderated the relationship between perceptions of school climate and self-esteem. The conditional effect of ethnic identity was evident when all other school climate variables were controlled for.