A Look at the Black LGBTQ+ Community in the United States

June is the month when two hard-won identities converge. As Pride month, June celebrates the lives and struggles of LGBTQ+ Americans with parades, civic events, and historic commemorations all over the country. Juneteenth, signed into law by President Joe Biden as a federal holiday in 2021, likewise uplifts the heritage and voices of Black Americans through a focus on the historic day in 1865 when enslaved people in Texas first learned they were free.

The hard road to recognition and appreciation

Both the Black and the LGBTQ+ communities have experienced rough and tortuous roads toward achieving legal equality. As poet James Weldon Johnson put it all the way back in 1900, “stony the road we trod.” And the rocky journey toward full social and political equality and inclusion continues to unfold.

Throughout history, people living at the intersection of Black and queer identities have been marginalized, ignored, and written out of history, despite the numerous contributions and sacrifices of people like civil rights leader Bayard Rustin, writer James Baldwin, choreographer Alvin Ailey, playwright Lorraine Hansberry, AIDS activist Marsha P. Johnson, and many more 

Today, young role models like Karine Jean-Pierre—the first woman of color and the first openly LGBTQ+ individual to serve as White House press secretary—are picking up where this older generation left off.

But how has all this specifically affected everyday people who are both Black and LGBTQ+?

Fighting long odds for health and happiness

A 2021 study by the UCLA Williams Institute School of Law found that about 1.2 million adults in the United States identify as both Black and LGBT. Within the framework of this study, there are about 11.3 million LGBT individuals across the country, about 40 percent of whom are people of color. This figure includes 12 percent who are Black, a number mirroring the Black population across all categories of gender and sexual orientation.

The UCLA study, part of a series called LGBT Well-Being at the Intersection of Race, produced some other notable statistics.

About 57 percent of Black LGBT individuals are younger than 35, as compared with 34 percent of non-LGBT Black people. More than 60 percent of Black LGBT people are female, versus only 56 percent of Black non-LGBT people.

Some 36 percent of Black LGBT adults overall are raising children. And almost exactly as many Black LGBT women are parenting children as non-LGBT Black women.

Black LGBT people are slightly more likely than their Black non-LGBT counterparts to live in the Western part of the country. Still, approximately 50 percent of Black LGBT people live in the South.

Black LGBT and non-LGBT males show about the same level of formal education, although a lower percentage of LGBT Black women hold a college degree than do non-LGBT Black women. People who are both Black and LGBT earn notably less than non-LGBT Black people, are more likely to be unemployed, and are more likely to live with food insecurity and overall financial instability. Significantly, more than 40 percent of Black LGBT women experience food insecurity, versus less than 30 percent of non-LGBT Black women.

Adults who are both Black and LGBT are statistically more likely to participate in activities that carry a high risk for their health. For example, in the Williams study, 34 percent described themselves as current smokers. Only 23 percent of non-LGBT Black people reported being current smokers. Additionally, Black LGBT adults are more likely to receive a diagnosis of a serious, chronic illness such as asthma or cancer. They are also more likely to experience depression and homelessness.

Often implicitly excluded from majority-white LGBTQ+ spaces and Pride celebrations, and from traditional African American spaces like churches and local organizations, it’s easy to see why Black LGBTQ+ people might feel unsupported and unwelcome.

Joy in the struggle

But there are always those working to make things better. Within the Black LGBTQ+ community, activists have built a community focused on acceptance, empowerment, and celebration, while never forgetting the struggle.

Starting with DC Black Pride in 1991, the Black Gay Pride movement continues to offer its own welcoming events focused on this specific dual identity. Even as the white-dominated movement for LGBTQ+ equality has put an enormous emphasis on securing the right to same-sex marriage, the Black Gay Pride community has worked to overcome structural social barriers of homophobia, racism, and lack of access to high-quality mental and physical healthcare.

The celebratory aspect of the Black Gay Pride movement includes parades and events around the world, from expected communities like New Orleans and Los Angeles to more unexpected places like Little Rock, Arkansas, and Lagos, Nigeria. On its website, the Center for Black Equity offers an interactive map with contact information to help visitors find the nearest Black Pride celebration to them.

As a legacy civil rights organization, the NAACP has done its share of stepping up. In 2019, the group endorsed the Equality Act, a proposed piece of federal legislation designed to bring full equality to LGBTQ+ Americans. Previously, the NAACP also lent its support to federal legislation designed to protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination in employment and healthcare.

And organizations like Affinity (focused on Black queer women), the Black Trans Travel Fund (helping trans Black people travel safely), and Fierce NYC (empowering young queer black people with leadership opportunities) have leveraged the passion for public service to improve everyday life for many in these communities.

A whole new generation of queer Black authors, artists, and performers is producing deeply meaningful work. And a new generation of activists is also committed to acknowledging and healing trauma while building physical, mental, and emotional health, as well as the structural support systems that this community so much deserves.