Disclosure, discrimination and desire: experiences of Black and South Asian gay men in Britain

McKeown, Eamonn; Nelson, Simon; Anderson, Jane; Low, Nicola; Elford, Jonathan (2010). Disclosure, discrimination and desire: experiences of Black and South Asian gay men in Britain. Culture, health & sexuality, 12(7), pp. 843-856. London: Taylor & Francis 10.1080/13691058.2010.499963

[img] Text
McKeown CultHealthSex 2010.pdf - Published Version
Restricted to registered users only
Available under License Publisher holds Copyright.

Download (177kB)

Using findings from a qualitative investigation based on in-depth email interviews with 47 Black and South Asian gay men in Britain, this paper explores the cross-cutting identities and discourses in relation to being both gay and from an ethnic minority background. Taking an intersectional approach, detailed accounts of identity negotiation, cultural pressures, experiences of discrimination and exclusion and the relationship between minority ethnic gay men and mainstream White gay culture are presented and explored. The major findings common to both groups were: cultural barriers limiting disclosure of sexuality to family and wider social networks; experiences of discrimination by White gay men that included exclusion as well as objectification; a lack of positive gay role models and imagery relating to men from minority ethnic backgrounds. Among South Asian gay men, a major theme was regret at being unable to fulfil family expectations regarding marriage and children, while among Black gay men, there was a strong belief that same-sex behaviour subverted cultural notions related to how masculinity is configured. The paper concludes by highlighting the importance of social location, particularly education and income, when examining the intersection of ethnicity and sexuality in future research.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM)

UniBE Contributor:

Low, Nicola

ISSN:

1369-1058

Publisher:

Taylor & Francis

Language:

English

Submitter:

Factscience Import

Date Deposited:

04 Oct 2013 14:10

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:01

Publisher DOI:

10.1080/13691058.2010.499963

PubMed ID:

20665298

Web of Science ID:

000281080300009

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.1322

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/1322 (FactScience: 202715)

Actions (login required)

Edit item Edit item
Provide Feedback