Discrimination at the Intersections: Experiences of Community and Belonging in Nonmonosexual Persons of Color

Abstract

Researchers have established that both nonmonosexual, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) persons of Color face unique forms of alienation. However, little work has been undertaken to examine how these identities interface with one another. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with nonmonosexual persons of Color (n = 5) and nonmonosexual White persons (n = 5) residing in Melbourne, Australia to explore intersections of racial minority and nonmonosexuality. Nonmonosexual persons of Color simultaneously contended with heterosexism and homophobia within ethnoracial communities, and racism in White LGBTQ communities. These were typically insidious and subtle, but more explicit forms of discrimination were also common. Contrasting with their White counterparts, participants of Color rarely experienced discrimination within LGBTQ communities to their sexuality. Instead, as race is a highly visible marker of difference, racism heavily influenced these participants’ experiences within these communities. However, findings suggest that these groups engage numerous strategies in response to the oppressions they experience, exhibiting positive intersectionality, and largely mitigating the negative impacts of these forms of discrimination.

Keywords:

• LGBTQ
• queer theory
• sexual minorities
• biphobia
• racism
• intersectionality
• bisexuality
• discrimination
• bisexual erasure

Additional information

Notes on contributors

G. Lim

Gene Lim is a PhD candidate with the Faculty of Arts at Monash University. Their research interests can be broadly situated within Queer Theory – specifically, in the Intersectionality of race and Queerness, and how intersectional marginalization impacts the biopsychosocial health of LGBTQ people of color.

B. Hewitt

Belinda Hewitt is an Associate Professor in Sociology and Social Policy in the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Melbourne. She studies Sociology of the Family, her research has mainly used a longitudinal and life course approach to understanding the interplay between gender, family and work.