Homophobia in ethnic minority communities

Homophobia in ethnic minority communities is any negative prejudice or form of discrimination in ethnic minority communities worldwide towards people who identify as–or are perceived as being–lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT), known as homophobia. This may be expressed as antipathy, contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, irrational fear, and is sometimes related to religious beliefs.Though many religious beliefs are used to overcome homophobia as well. A 2006 study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in the UK found that while religion can have a positive function in many LGBT Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities, it can also play a role in supporting homophobia.

Many LGBT ethnic minority persons rely on members of their ethnic group for support on racial matters. Within these communities, homophobia and transphobia often exist within the context of ethnocultural norms on gender and sexual orientation. Caitlin Ryan of the National Youth Advocacy Coalition wrote; "a common fallacy within communities of color is that gay men or lesbians are perceived as 'defective' men or women who want to be a member of the opposite gender".

In some cultures, there are difficulties in categorising homosexuality. Some scholars have argued that Western notions of sexual identity began to emerge in Europe in the mid-to-late 19th century, though others challenge this. Behaviors that would be widely regarded as homosexual in the West were regarded as acceptable in around three quarters of the cultures surveyed in Patterns of Sexual Behavior (1951).

Theory

Intersectionality and dual minority identity

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.