Sexual Identities and Racial Attitudes among Black, Latinx, and White Individuals

Abstract

Some recent studies suggest that lesbians, gay men, and bisexual people are generally more racially progressive than heterosexuals. However, the findings of these “political distinctiveness” studies are up for some debate. Other studies find no sexuality gaps in racial attitudes, and these studies overlook the possibility of bisexual people having unique racial perspectives. These distinctiveness studies also ignore the possibility of racial and sexual identities influencing racial attitudes at the same time. In using the American National Election Survey of 2016 as a data source (N = 3,987), this work found limited and conditional support for a sexuality gap in racial attitudes. In most cases, heterosexual people and sexual minorities converge in their racial interpretations, but there are some cases of stark differences between heterosexual individuals and lesbian-gay counterparts. Finally, an analysis of intersecting identities displayed some instances where the impact of a sexual identity varied by a person’s racial background. For example, Black and Latinx bisexual people did not perceive racism or internalize racial stereotypes at especially high levels, but Latinx bisexual individuals were more supportive of Black protests against the police than Black bisexual individuals.