Introduction
In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, following decades of sociopolitical mobilization by members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community and their allies. However, members of the LGBT community have criticized the narrow focus on marriage equality, arguing it sidesteps other urgent community issues like racism, class conflicts, transphobia, youth homelessness, and others (Spade and Willse 2013; Duggan 2012a; Warner 1999). Moreover, LGBT activists and scholars, some of whom are black, have argued that the legalization of same-sex marriage disproportionately benefits a certain segment of the LGBT population—namely, the white, highly educated, middle to upper-middle class, gays and lesbians …show more content…
While previous theoretical and empirical analyses of LGBT-identifying people (especially of LGBT racial minorities) offer valuable insights into their complex social worlds and locations, such approaches do not consider key contributions of intersectional and identity-based theories. The intersectional research perspective emphasizes the role of multiple forms of inequality that simultaneously affect an individual’s experiences and perceptions. In particular, legal marriage may carry with it a variety of stereotypes, privileges, and expectations that are not equally applicable across all groups within the LGBT community. For black LGBT Americans, experiences of both racial and sexual discrimination may affect their sense of belonging to either group in complex ways (Collins 2005; Moore 2011). Personal identities and identity salience may shift based on racial and sexual discrimination, and in turn, may affect their views regarding the importance of same-sex marriage. Using the concept of identity salience hierarchy allows me to understand how these factors are intertwined and influence one
In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, following decades of sociopolitical mobilization by members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community and their allies. However, members of the LGBT community have criticized the narrow focus on marriage equality, arguing it sidesteps other urgent community issues like racism, class conflicts, transphobia, youth homelessness, and others (Spade and Willse 2013; Duggan 2012a; Warner 1999). Moreover, LGBT activists and scholars, some of whom are black, have argued that the legalization of same-sex marriage disproportionately benefits a certain segment of the LGBT population—namely, the white, highly educated, middle to upper-middle class, gays and lesbians …show more content…
While previous theoretical and empirical analyses of LGBT-identifying people (especially of LGBT racial minorities) offer valuable insights into their complex social worlds and locations, such approaches do not consider key contributions of intersectional and identity-based theories. The intersectional research perspective emphasizes the role of multiple forms of inequality that simultaneously affect an individual’s experiences and perceptions. In particular, legal marriage may carry with it a variety of stereotypes, privileges, and expectations that are not equally applicable across all groups within the LGBT community. For black LGBT Americans, experiences of both racial and sexual discrimination may affect their sense of belonging to either group in complex ways (Collins 2005; Moore 2011). Personal identities and identity salience may shift based on racial and sexual discrimination, and in turn, may affect their views regarding the importance of same-sex marriage. Using the concept of identity salience hierarchy allows me to understand how these factors are intertwined and influence one