African American Gay Youth and Their Parents: Coping with Double Stigma Psychology Today (blog

Despite improvements in race relations in this county during the past 50 years, including the election of a black president, race still matters and it plays a role in how families respond to the news that a son or daughter is gay or lesbian. Compared to whites, African Americans suffer disproportionately higher rates of poverty, unemployment, incarceration, and stress-related illnesses, and are also more likely to contract HIV. Although there is heated debate about the causes of these disparities, many experts believe that the wounds of racism play a significant role.

However, a documented strength of African American families is their close kinship ties that provide safe harbor from the racist seas of the dominant culture. Loving, strong families can buffer the impacts of oppression on its members. In addition, families are the first places where children learn ways to cope and thrive in spite of prejudice and discrimination. So for gay and lesbian youth who are black, the thought of losing this vital resource is particularly devastating.

In the study described in the book: Coming Out, Coming Home: Helping Families Adjust to a Gay or Lesbian Child (www.comingoutcominghome.com), the experiences of white and black families were often similar. When they realized they were gay, African American youth, like their white counterparts distanced themselves from their parents for self-protection and to avoid conflict. Both white and African American parents felt guilty when they first learned their children were gay. Furthermore, as time passed many black and white families experienced improvements in their family relationships, fueled by mutually reinforcing parent-child interactions.

However, black parents were less likely than their white counterparts to report that they mourned the loss of a normal life for their children when they initially learned they were gay. MORE