Race-Ethnicity in American Politics Spring 2016

Adam J. Elkhadem

Raymond Arthur Smith

Race-Ethnicity in American Politics Spring 2016

12 April 2016

Multiracial Persons and LGBT Status

Key Words:

LGBT, LGB, multiracial, sexual minority, biracial, transgender, intersectionality

Description:

Despite the increasing awareness and improved treatment of racial and sexual minorities in the United States, multiracial LGBT individuals continue to experience discrimination from the public at large, and within their ethno-racial and sexual minority populations, resulting in disproportionately higher levels of self-harm.

Key Points:

• It is difficult to make generalizations about the population of multiracial individuals in the LGBT community due to the incredible diversity of the group and the dearth of studies dedicated to them.
• There are disproportionately fewer multiracial individuals in the LGBT community than exist in the wider U.S. population, causing them to be “minorities among minorities.”
• Of all demographics in the United States, multiracial LGB individuals display the highest rates of self-harm, attempted suicide, and mental health issues, leading to a vast literature on multiracial LGBT counseling.
• Though the comparison has often been made between multiracial and transgender individuals, both of which report feeling “between” identities, little study has been devoted to multiracial transgender people.

Images:

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Pride Survey 2006.

The percentage of multiracial children in the United States has grown immensely since 1970.Still, “multi-racial,” even together with “other” races, is the smallest ethno-racial group within the LGBT community.

Images, continued:

Megan C. Lytle, et al. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 2014.

Among multiracial individuals, LGB persons were far more likely to attempt suicide, harm themselves, or experience depression. Additionally, multiracial LGB persons displayed a greater percentage affected than any other demographic in every category.

Issue Brief:

In recent years, social movements and public discourse have led to a greater acceptance of openly LGBT individuals. At the same time, following the banning of anti-miscegenationlaws (laws banning interracial marriage), a greater number of bi- or multi-racial individuals exist today than ever before. While both of these groups enjoy increased rights and recognition today, they are both heavily disadvantaged groups that face a high degree of discrimination at the family level and at large. While there have been many studies done on LGBT persons (sexual minorities) and multiracial individuals separately, there is no wide literature on the intersectional group of the LGBT multiracial community. Claims made about this community are based on the few studies that do exist, the cross sectional population within the LGBT community, and on the two separate communities overlapped independently. Because of their place at the intersection of two oppressed minority groups, multiracial LGBT persons face issues of identity, of acceptance within and beyond their minority groups, and as a result often face higher degrees of mental health issues and self-harm.

A major initial problem faced when discussing multiracial minorities is the sheer variation within the group. Within the multiracial group there is wide difference depending not only on the ethnic identities of the individual’s parentage, but also on the individual’s self identification with their various ethnic affiliations. For example, a person with black and Chinese ancestry might identify closer with the Chinese community than the black community (Pew 5). The LGBT group, similarly, features distinct groups and identities (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender), arguably grouped together arbitrarily as sexual minorities. These channels of oppression (i.e. multiracial people, as “double minorities,” may face oppression at the hands of white and minority groups) occur at all socioeconomic levels, and even within dominant groups. E.g. A wealthy man may be discriminated against despite his privileges because he is “mixed” and gay (Stanley 162). Oppression is higher still among the non-dominant groups within this group, namely women, who experience gendered oppression as well.

The percentage of American adults who are LGB is 3.5%, while the percentage thatis transgender is 0.3% (Gates “How Many,” 1). The percentage of Americans who are multiracial is 6.9% (Pew 5). The percentage of the LGBT community that identifies as multiracial or other is 4.5% (Cahill 3). Already racial and sexual minorities within the wider American public as multiracial and LGBT individuals, multiracial LGBT persons are minorities to an even greater extent within the LGBT community. For these individuals, mental illness prevalence, attempted suicide, and self-harm are at higher rates than any other individuals in the U.S. population. Within all racial and ethnic groups in the U.S., LGB people have the highest risk of self-harm or suicide attempts (Lytle 387). Additionally, multiracial LGB persons have the highest proportion of self-directed violence out of all LGB racial groups (389). Within the multiracial group in America as a whole, LGB individuals have a greater risk of self-harm than non-LGB people, 7.3% versus 1.3% (388). Though the data indicate that counseling is perhaps most necessary for this group, helpful counseling is often difficult to obtain (Chen-Hayes 164). While there are few studies dedicated to multiracial LGBT individuals, there are many published guides for counseling them, indicating the necessity for such a resource, especially for children. Same sex couples are more likely to be interracial or interethnic than are traditional couples (Gates “Same-sex,” 4). Though this does not mean that there is a higher level of gay people in the multiracial community, it does suggest that the children of these couples are at a higher risk of being bullied due to theracial and sexual minority status of their parents; hence, the need for such counseling in schools.

A common comparison is made between multiracial persons and transgender persons, because of their perceived “in-between” identity status (Greenberg). Though trends do indicate that the groups receive higher than the base-line minority amount of discrimination (transgender people report higher levels of hate violence and harassment than do other LGB people), multiracial transgender people suffer the most of any comparable group. For multiracial people, the concept of “having to choose” an identity, often amidst pressure within one’s own family, is often viewed as analogous to that of being “caught between genders,” for transgender people (Day 67). However, there is not enough data on this specific issue to confidently make broad claims about this intersectional group.

The issues faced by the LGBT community and the multiracial communities are severe and underreported. There are few studies on this small sector of the American population. The information in the literature paints a grim picture of life for these persons, who face daily oppression at the hands of whites and racial minorities alike, in addition to the oppression they face in contemporary hetero-normative America. This intersection of minority identities contributes to feelings of alienation and physical and emotional violence, in turn the root causes of the self-harm and mental health issues that are, unfortunately, higher in this small group than any other in America. The issues they face can be best remedied by increasing awareness and education about the socially constructed nature of racial and sexual identity, and by improving the access to reliable, informed counseling.

Works Cited

Cahill, Sean and Bryan Kim-Butler. “Policy Priorities for the LGBT Community: Pride Survey

2006.” National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

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f> Accessed 29 Feb. 2016.

Chen-Hayes, Stuart F. “17. Systemic Anti-Oppression Strategies for School Counselors as Allies

Advocating for Queer Children, Youth, and Families of Multiracial Experience.”

Troubling Intersections of Race and Sexuality: Queer Studentsof Color and Anti-Oppressive Education. Ed. Kevin K. Kumashiro. Rowan & Littlefield, 2001. 165-176. Accessed 29 Feb. 2016.

Day, Arik. “’Forced To Choose’: The Makings of Identity in a Multiracial, Queer/Trans

Context.” Hard Wire: The Undergraduate Journal of Sexual Diversity Studies. Ed.

Sarah McQuarrie and Paul Weadick. Toronto: University of Toronto, 2013. 64-75.

Gates, Gary J. “How Many People Are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender?” Williams

Institute. UCLA School of Law, April 2011. Web. Accessed 29 Feb. 2016.

Gates, Gary J. “Same-sex Couples in Census 2010: Race and Ethnicity.” Williams Institute.

UCLA School of Law, April 2012. Web. <

content/uploads/Gates-CouplesRaceEthnicity-April-2012.pdf Accessed 29 Feb. 2016.

Greenberg, Julie A. “Deconstructing Binary Race and Sex Categories: A Comparison of the

Multiracial and Transgendered Experience.” San Diego Law Review, 39 (2002) : 917-

942. 17 Dec. 2003. Accessed 29 Feb. 2016.

Lytle, Megan C., Susan M. De Luca, and John R. Blosnich. “The Influence of Intersecting

Identities on Self-Harm, Suicidal Behaviors, and Depression among Lesbian, Gay, and

Bisexual Individuals.” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, Vol 44.4 (2014) : 384-

391. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. Accessed 29 Feb. 2016.

Pew Research Center. “Multiracial in America: Proud, Diverse, and Growing in Numbers.”

Washington, D.C. (2015) : 11 June 2015. Accessed 29 Feb. 2016.

Stanley, Jeanne L. “Biracial Lesbian and Bisexual Women.” Women & Therapy, Vol 27.1-2

(2004) : 159-171. Web. 10 Oct 2008. Accessed 29 Feb. 2016.

Relevant Sources:

House, Amy S., Elizabeth Van Horn, Christopher Coppeans, and Lara M. Stepleman.

“Interpersonal Trauma and Discriminatory Events as Predictors of Suicidal and

Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Persons.”

Traumatology, Vol 17.2 (2011) : 75-85. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.