The racial and sexual identity development of African American gay, lesbian and bisexual students at a religiously affiliated historically black university

Abstract

Using grounded theory, this study explored the racial and sexual identity development of African American gay, lesbian and bisexual students at a religiously affiliated Historically Black University. Qualitative inquiry was used to capture the perspectives of the students using their own voices. A total of fifteen students participated in the study. Each participant but one was interviewed twice during the study. Each interview session was audiotaped, transcribed and then coded. This dissertation presents the major themes of the study and a model that describes their racial and sexual identity development process and the intersection or race and sexual orientation. In the first interview 11 themes were developed during data analysis and nine themes emerged from the second interview session. The findings indicated that racial identity development did not tend to follow a general pattern development, whereas sexual identity development followed the general pattern according to sexual identity models. This study includes a model that depicts the interaction of sexual identity and racial identity development for the participants. Overall implications of dual integration included the existence of a double lifestyle, the resistance to being labeled and isolated support systems. This study contributes to developmental literature and highlights the importance of conducting developmental research that includes multiple identities.