Interracial relationships are more common among LGBTQ people than in the heterosexual population. The common use of digital platforms by LGBTQ persons trying to find partners nevertheless exposes them to “sexual racism” through sorting algorithms and anonymous communications that permit insults that would not be tolerated in in-person interactions. Sexual racism can either take the form of peremptory rejection of potential partners or the fetishization of traditional racial stereotypes, such as black men being well-endowed and dominant, Asian men being effeminate and passive, or Latinx partners being passionate and promiscuous. Many minority persons report internalized pressure either to conform to these stereotypes or to present themselves in terms of White beauty ideals by identifying as “mixed race” or light-skinned, but others develop self-conscious strategies of resistance to stereotypical expectations. The first systematic review of scholarship in this area has been published in the Journal of Sex Research, examining both the mental health impact of sexual racism on minority communities and the factors that pre-dispose some individuals to expression of racial exclusivity.
Sexual Racism in LGBTQ Spaces
