Sexual Orientation and Race

A White Label

Another reason gay is sometimes considered a white label is that for many white people, sexual orientation is contingent upon object choice-for example, a man intimate with another man must be gay; with a woman, straight; and with men and women, bisexual. However, members of other races, particularly African American, Hispanic, and Middle Eastern populations, [Page 1324]treat sexual orientation as not stemming from object choice but rather the position played in an intimate sexual encounter. For instance, a man who sexually penetrates a man is not necessarily gay (or homosexual), particularly because the man assumes an active, dominant role. However, the man being penetrated may be considered gay, because he assumes a passive, feminized role. Among these races, the dominant and masculine “penetrator” is, or could easily identify as, heterosexual. What makes this view of sexual orientation and race fascinating is that a man's self-identification of sexual orientation-“I am heterosexual”-can be conceived of differently by persons of different races based on his intimate acts with others (e.g., for some races, the penetrator is gay because of object choice; for other races, the penetrator is heterosexual because of role played). In this example, there are also devaluing assumptions about sex and gender as gayness is marked by passivity, femininity, and weakness, whereas the penetrator is “safe” from such ascriptions by being masculine and dominant.

Coming Out

Coming out of the closet-disclosing a same-sex sexual orientation-can function differently depending on race as well. Coming out often happens when a person says, “I am gay or a lesbian,” when a person engages in intimate affairs with another person of the same sex, or when a person assumes a particular position in a sexual act. However, the statement “I will never get married [to someone of the other sex]” might indicate, for others, that the person possesses same-sex desire, for example, a woman who says “I will never get married” can indicate, for others, that she is a lesbian. And such assessment may be tied to race: it seems that white women-the founders of feminism-have created social spaces in which they can live free of being attached to men. However, women of other races (e.g., Hispanic, Middle Eastern) may still be perceived as being tied to men and the institution of marriage, not only out of religious and cultural obligation but also because feminism is predominantly a white philosophy and movement.

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