[4] A 2006 study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in the UK found that while religion can have a positive function in many LGB Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities, it can also play a role in supporting homophobia.
[11] Kimberlé Crenshaw developed the framework for intersectionality; the theory that black women are not wholly defined by a singular identity, which is used in the process of examining the ways in which sexuality and race are related.
Their multiple identities cause a fragmentation in which they routinely observe themselves, as both queer individuals and racial and ethnic minorities, through the lens of American culture.
[22] Within the clinic, a white psychiatrist may not understand the social needs of a person of color, and spaces for dual-minority identity development are relatively lacking.
Micro-aggressions within the clinic are detrimental for mental health and prevention requires additional effort from practicing counselors to be stripped of bias, informed of unique issues, and further support networks.
[27] If the oppression of the ethnic minority group is stronger in general society, homophobia from within may be more bearable than losing access to a racial community.
[46] According to Alton Hornsby, black people are not more homophobic than the broader American culture, which has restricted same-sex sexuality and LGBT social participation.
However, after controlling for age and religious identification, African-Americans are more likely to support gay marriage rights and civil liberties than white people.
[52][53][54][55][56] African American LGBT people tend to identify more with their racial/ethnic category rather than their sexual orientation as a main identity reference group.
Black LGBT people are often hesitant about revealing their sexuality to their friends and families because of homosexuality's incompatibility with cultural gender roles.
Maintaining a nuclear family with a man as the main provider and a woman as the staple of the house are the dominant values within the Black Church.
On the campus of HBCUs, the Black experience is continued by creating a culture of security from opposing races by faculty, staff, and students.
[78] Some campuses have begun to make a conscious effort to end the rampant homophobia, however, that progress has been moving at an unhurried pace.
In 2009, on the campus of the famed all-male Morehouse College,[80] a new dress code policy was enacted that explicitly barred students from wearing women's clothing to any sponsored University events.
I can’t recall ever hearing of an awareness week or a seminar… [78] Many at HBCUs are even taught to denounce their intersectionality and be “Black first, then-Gay second.” [82] This belief comes from the common knowledge that because one is gay, they will be discredited.
[91] As both ethnic and sexual minorities, queer Latinos may navigate contradictory identities, which Gloria Anzaldúa calls "mestiza consciousness".
Because Latino/an LGBT people experience greater racial discrimination in broader society, primary support can come from families where they are stigmatized yet still accepted.
"[97] Community attitudes treat male homosexuality as "dirty, shameful and abnormal",[97] and Latina lesbians are stereotyped as traitors who have forsaken their roots.
[98] Cherríe Moraga said Chicana lesbians are perceived as Malinche figures who are corrupted by foreign influences that contribute to the "genocide" of their people, even if they have children.
[94] A Green Heritage News editor stated homophobia in the Latino community is tied to a value system that finds it difficult to accept overt sexuality.
[101] Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escabar was banned from playing after writing the phrase tu eres maricón on his eye tape (Spanish for "you are a faggot").
[102] Hector Conteras, a DJ, "prompted listeners via Twitter to denounce what they considered 'gay behavior' from their peers at work, school, their neighborhood or within their own family".
[118] According to Amy Sueyoshi, "Voices from the queer left, though opposed to homophobia in cultural nationalism, have picked up the protest against the feminization of Asian American men in the gay community".
These cultural expectations are not universal or uniform, but may help explain why some LGBT Asian Americans feel homophobic pressure from their ethnic communities.
[122] A large percentage of Asian languages do not have a specific word describing homosexuality, gay, lesbian, etc., but rather several stand-in terms that roughly reference one's sexuality.
[127] This can lead to pushing back discussions about sex and relationships, which gives Asian American children a late start in comparison to their peers.
[135] The expectations placed on Asian American LGBT people can oftentimes lead to internalization of homophobic attitudes or reluctance to embrace their sexual orientation.
[136] Family-oriented and socially-oriented identity interact with internalized heteronormativity; these three factors influence one's choice to come out or enter a straight marriage.
Yet in Asian American cultures, there is often a lesser degree of overt expression of love, which can affect the parent-and-child relationship after disclosing a non-straight sexual identity.
[148][153][better source needed][154] Many Black British gay people face being socially isolated from their communities and the possibility of being assaulted or murdered.