Abstract
As indicated in this study, there are students who are enrolled in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) who are comfortable with their LGBT identity; however they would like more resources to address their specific interests and needs. More research is needed on large samples of Black LGBT students enrolled at HBCUs in order to expand upon the findings of this research regarding active coping used in the context, ways to assist the students to cope with family conflicts around their sexual identity, and increased acceptance of Black sexual minorities within the wider Black community. As indicated by the students of this study, their challenges more often come from outside of the university context, yet within the university context there are still feelings of marginalization regarding programming and more direct acknowledgement of the population as an active and significant part of the university community. These findings, while based on a small sample, are encouraging regarding the students’ happiness, positive active coping, and general feelings of support from professors. The students of this study did mention, however, that there are other LGB students who are not as comfortable as they are, and are “in hiding” on campus as sexual minorities. Thus more could be done to assist more Black LGB students to be out, happy, and comfortable. Psychologists must continue to provide insight about the experiences of greater numbers of Black LGB students within HBCUs who are similar to the students of the current study.
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Lewis, M.K., Marshall, I. (2012). New “Outsiders”: Black Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Students in a Historically Black University Context. In: LGBT Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0565-8_4
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