Arab Americans and Sexual Orientation

[Page 89]Arab Americans are an ethnic minority group in the United States who identify themselves as various races and have diverse religious affiliations. There has been some debate among experts regarding whether or not Arab Americans should have their own racial/ethnic group category on official documents. Arab Americans have encountered increased discrimination since the attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11). Arab Americans are often mistakenly conflated with Islam or Muslim; however, the majority of Arab Americans are actually Christians, while many others identify as agnostic, atheist, Buddhist, Jewish, or from many other religions.

As ethnic minorities from a socially conservative culture, Arab American sexual minorities (i.e., people who are nonheterosexual) face many challenges in understanding themselves and how they fit in with the dominant U.S. society ...