INDIVIDUAL Application for a Summer Research Fellowship

School of Arts & Sciences

Name: Tianni Ivey

Title of project: The Politics of Coming Out: Race, Family, and Does It Still Matter?

Faculty mentor: Dr. Ladelle McWhorter, Stephanie Bennett-Smith Chair in Women,

Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Body of Proposal

Part 1: Aims
I will explore the decision-making process behind coming out about one’s sexuality and
how race, as a key form of identity, plays a role in assessing the risks and benefits of
publicly navigating sexuality in heteronormative American society. Numerous
considerations go into making the decision to come out, but I will focus specifically on the
reactions of loved ones and the importance of preserving familial dynamics among
communities of color, specifically Black communities. I incorporate race to explore how
racial identity and cultural assumptions about sexuality further impact coming-out as
sexuality may introduce additional distress to an already complicated American minority
experience. I aim to question the general moral imperative of “coming-out”—
understanding when and why coming out became morally incumbent upon LGBTQ people.
Contemporary relevance of coming out is informed by the meaning the decision may hold
for those who do and those who choose not to, its meaning for those on the receiving end
of the announcement, and whether it is political and a form of subversive resistance. This
project will explore these topics in an effort to better understand how racially-based
considerations of culture and family amplify and agitate the decision-making process.

Part 2: Background and Significance

The thought for this project topic came about after discussing personal experiences of
coming out with another University student, after which I began to question the imperative
of coming out that is placed on LGBTQ individuals. Upon discussing the process of coming
out, the conversation also touched on the intersection of race and sexuality, family, and
how race impacts family structures and dynamics. Interestingly, there is the widely-
discussed and somewhat controversial topic of “hyper-homophobia” in the Black
community. I have heard many opinions on homosexuality and its hinderance to the
preservation of Black families and communities. I have even heard it compared to
interracial relationships as being a threat to blackness and the survival of Black families in
a world governed by white supremacy. This made me wonder whether there is actually
more to consider when coming out because of one’s racial identity, and if the consideration
of racial identity and culture makes the decision process easier or more difficult. What
kinds of cultural differences account for the possibility that coming out is more difficult
for racial minorities than for whites? The specific question to be answered is: Why does it
remain morally imperative that LGBTQ people come out about their sexuality, from where
does this pressure stem, and is the decision to come out more difficult for racial minorities
due to culture and the relationship between race and family in Black communities? Do
Black conceptions of masculinity and femininity, as well as familial structures and their
reliance of these conceptions, alter the politics of coming out? Hopefully, this research will
provide a reference point for increased and improved coalition-building within feminist
and LGBTQ movements, as well as how to better support Black queer persons as
families—and as larger support networks—in a white, patriarchal, heteronormative
society.

Part 3: Plan for Research

The research necessary will be qualitative in nature and occur in two phases. The first
phase centers around an intense reading of texts on the history of coming out; black
feminism; intersectionality as it relates to race, gender expression, and sexual identity;
and sex politics in popular literature. During this initial stage, I will work with University
of Richmond faculty members whose work can further connect dots between my research
and topics of race, gender, and sexuality across departments such as WGSS, Political
Science, Rhetoric and Communication Studies, Anthropology, Psychology, Religious
Studies, Sociology, and American Studies. This phase will provide context and
background to the second phase of research.

This second phase will involve personally speaking with people at the University and in
the Richmond area in set focus groups to identify differences in individual and culturally
collective perceptions and experiences involving sex and gender, sexuality and
orientation, and expression and identity across the spectra of race and gender. I will speak
to LGBTQ individuals in two separate groups who racially identify as either Black or
white about their personal experiences of coming out and its impact on their familial
relationships. In conducting these conversational interviews, I am looking for
commonalities as well as instances of difference in perceptions of sexuality and
experiences in deciding to, or not to, come out between the two racial groups; similarities
and differences across lines of gender both intra- and interracially; and if either, or both,
subgroups identify generational difference among their respective families and cultural
communities as a stressor to consider when coming out.

Interactions with both focus groups will be open-ended with few set questions to
hopefully establish a safe-space to foster honest and healthy discussion amongst peers. I
will begin with the questions of:

 How do you identify on the sexuality spectrum and for how long have you
identified that way?
 Are you out, and if so, to which groups in your personal and professional
networks?
 How did/does your family factor into your decision to come out, or to not come
out?
  How did/does your racial and/or cultural community play a role in your decision
to come out, or to not come out?

Other guiding questions to either supplement or redirect the discussion if necessary are:

 What additional factors did you consider when making your decision?
 Is it more or less difficult to be white/Black and LGBTQ than it is to be
Black/white and LGBTQ?
 Does the Black community tend to have specific views on sexuality and the
expression of sex and gender?
 How does your family view the LGBTQ community and is there a considerable
difference in opinion across lines of gender and age?
 Do you think that the experience of coming out in your racial community differs
for men and women within that community?

The outcome of this research project will be a written paper and a presentation at the Arts
and Sciences Symposium in the spring followed by a question-and-answer style
discussion about the content presented.

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