Sex-ing the Intersections

This week the Human Rights Campaign Foundation released At The Intersection: Race, Sexuality and Gender—a two year research study focused on identifying the priorities and realities of LGBT people of color nation wide. This research is part of a new broader HRC initiative called Equality Forward, which has as its mission the uniting of LGBT people and allies of all races and backgrounds in order to achieve equality for all. The report is meant as the beginning of an interactive national dialogue. You can download the entire report and also share your own story (and read other stories) as an LGBT person of color on the Equality Forward web site.

Some of the report’s findings include:

·      The majority of LGBT people of color identify first with race then gender then sexual identity. For many LGBT people of color, therefore, anti oppression work combating racial inequalities is a (if not the) top priority and this needs to be understood, supported and reflected better within the LGBT movement as a whole. (For an interesting NSRC discussion related to this point, see Amy Sueyoshi's recent article, Inequality In the Marriage Equality Movement).

·      We all have more in common than we realize, despite our many differences. How to celebrate and leverage our differences will be the key to attaining equality.

·      Religious attitudes are a major source of sexual prejudice for LGBT people of color both from many of the religious denominations themselves and also from the religiophobia of much of the LGBT movement.

·      Affordable healthcare and housing, the economy and jobs, prevention and treatment of HIV, protections from violence and workplace discrimination and immigration reform are some of the issues ranked as most critical.

In addition to these primary concerns, we here at NSRC know that our colleagues of color (and LGBT colleagues of color in particular) continue to be immensely underrepresented if not blatantly excluded within the fields of sexuality research, education and policy. This creates an enormous leadership gap that holds the entire field of sexuality research/education/policy back from achieving the level of relevancy and power that it desperately needs to attain in order to save lives, provide optimal well being, social justice….and equality.

So what are some of the ways NSRC has been working on the inclusivity of LGBT people of color this summer?:

·      Last month we held our annual four-week Summer Institute and the focus was on race, gender and sexuality. Expert faculty such as Cathy Cohen, Lisa Diamond, Hector Carrillo, Amy Sueyoshi and Jessica Fields (among others) and 32 students from across the country participated. It was the first time in the 8 year history of the Summer Institute that the majority of students were students of color, many of them LGBT/queer identified. It was also the very first time we focused the theme completely on race, gender and sexuality. We encourage you to watch the video confessionals of the students themselves as well as read their blogs to learn more from them directly about the experience of studying the intersections of race, gender and sexuality with us this summer.

·      In July, I traveled to Atlanta to participate in The Fellowship Conference where close to 300 primarily Christian African American LGBT faith leaders convened to discuss how to create radical inclusivity across the nation. I was there to listen to the sexuality education related realities/priorities of the conference participants and to provide resources when and if relevant and needed. NSRC will now be partnering with the Health and Wellness Ministry of The Fellowship in order to begin working on assisting in the development of a Fellowship/NSRC produced lifelong, radically inclusive sexuality education curricula for faith leaders and their congregants nation wide. A curricula that cannot come too soon as the number of sexual health disparities continue to heavily impact this community.

·      In June, I traveled to the annual AARP Diversity and Inclusion Conference in Chicago where with several colleagues, we presented one of the first ever workshops on lifelong, LGBT inclusive sexuality education for diverse communities of older adults specifically. In doing so, we listened to and documented the sexuality education realities/priorities of the older LGBT people of color present (as well as the doctors, nursing home directors, social workers and family members who work with them) and are now working to include all of their voices and many others within our Sexual Literacy and Aging Initiative here at NSRC. The suicide rates of older LGBT adults are extremely high (in many cases higher than youth rates) and for LGBT older adults of color there are very specific sexuality related issues that have not yet even begun to be studied.

We have a long way to go to begin to create a more LGBT people of color inclusive, lifelong sexuality education framework in this country. Inclusive, socially just lifelong sexuality education is NSRC’s mission and most of our partners (LGBT, sexuality education and mainstream organizations) share in this vision too.

Congratulations to our friends at HRC and the Equality Forward Initiative for starting an important national dialogue that will help in improving the lives of LGBT people of color and therefore all people. It’s up to all of us now to move the dialogue forward.

On Thursday August 13th at 3pm ET, HRC will be hosting a live chat on the subject of race, sexuality and gender. You can submit questions in advance and also read the transcript once it is over. This might be a place to ask the panelists what their thoughts are about the priorities and realities of LGBT people of color in terms of sex and sexuality itself.