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    Tuesday, October 02, 2007

    Black Power + Gay Pride > Mental Disorders

    One might think that the combined cultural power of racism and homophobia would doom a fairly large portion of the population that was both black (or African-American...oooh, I hate that term almost as much as the phrase Oriental) and gay to depths of depression and other mental problems that would doom them to their own private hells.

    Not so fast, says the Science Blog. Turns out that black gay men and lesbians have fewer mental disorders than similarly situated whites.

    According to a study conducted at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health among lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations, blacks and Latinos do not have more mental disorders than whites. Based on the theory that stress related to prejudice would increase risk for mental disorders, researchers typically expect that black lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals face prejudice related to both racism and homophobia and therefore would have more disorders than their white counterparts. Contrary to this expectation, however, the Mailman School study found that black lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals had significantly fewer disorders than white individuals.


    There's an interesting finding. The first thing that comes to mind is this: perhaps homosexual blacks feel more culturally accepted in society than white homosexuals? Is that possible?

    It's a valid question. If you are expecting a enlightened and well reasoned response, I honestly don't have one. But it's still curious.

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