Complexities and Contradictions: Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Queer Students’ Lived Realities across Three Urban HBCU Contexts

Abstract

This qualitative study explored how Black LGBQ students at three urban private HBCUs experienced and navigated spaces that affirmed their racial identity but posed challenges to their sexual and gender identities. Drawing on Black respectability politics and environmental press as power as theoretical framing, we utilized a critical constructivist epistemology to unearth the complexities and contradictions that Black LGBQ students face in HBCU settings. Our analysis yielded three themes: (a) affirming/othering, (b) institutional pride/institutional change, and (c) safe space needed/wasted institutional efforts. Implications for higher education administrators and policymakers are offered within.