A team of researchers have mounted an endeavor titled the Social Justice Sexuality Initiative. A key part of this enterprise is a large repeated cross-sectional national survey that investigates the sociopolitical experiences of Black, Latina/o, as well as Asian and Pacific Islander lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. More specifically, this undertaking is a knowledge-based project interested in better understanding how identity enhances or inhibits the experiences of this target population around four major themes:

• accessing health - and community - based services;
• participating in civic and social engagement; more specifically, organizing and mobilizing both within and across varying racial and sexual identity based groups;
• family formations and dynamics; and
• religious participation, experiences, and attitudes.

Through venue-based sampling, snowball sampling, respondent-driven sampling, and the Internet, efforts will be made to ensure the inclusion of residents not in metropolitan areas as well as older adults – those who are 60 years old and over. Though not representative of the entire LGBT people of color population, it is anticipated that the final sample will have surveyed respondents residing in all 50 states; Washington, DC; and Puerto Rico.

Ultimately, this project will expand our understanding of the intersectionality of race, sexuality, and social justice through the development, implementation, analysis, and dissemination of the first phase of the project.

At a grassroots level, this project will provide a better understanding of identity and related issues important for accessing and empowering disadvantaged and underserved groups. More broadly, the ultimate goal of this research is to underscore and thus alleviate multiple forms of inequality within the United States. More specifically, focusing on the variability of experiences within LGBT populations of color, this project will detect disparities for the purpose of ideally removing those disparities; and if not removing them, then at least diminishing their deleterious impact.

This study will examine LGBT subgroups and cohorts of color through a cultural competence lens. It will be particularly sensitive to what it would take to increase civic engagement, mental and physical well-being, as well as pertinent aspects of the built environment. The purpose here is to transcend cultural stereotypes and rigid definitions of gender and sexuality, especially as they manifest in the lives of LGBT people of color. The objective is not to arrive at observations that are then comparable to White or heterosexual populations; instead, the intent is to highlight the similarities and differences that exist within LGBT communities of color.

As early as the 1970s, individuals like Barbara Smith and organizations such as the Combahee River Collective have been wrestling with concepts around race, sexuality, power, and social justice. Since the late 1980s, when critical race scholars like Kimberle Crenshaw and Patricia Hill Collins helped to coin the term “intersectionality” – a framework used to understand how multiple forms of oppression come together in multiplicative ways – researchers have grappled with its significance as a method, theoretical framework, and lived experience.

The information gathered from this research will be disseminated to advocates, teachers, policymakers, community organizers, and others directly involved in shaping the lived environment of LGBT individuals, people of color, as well as the intersection. This project seeks to generate new information and data that will expand the human and social capital of such individuals, facilitating their general empowerment through highlighting their voices and experiences.

In one of the seminal works on intersectionality, Crenshaw embarked upon an agenda that sought to “map the margins.” The proposed research picks up at this point. The multi-year repeated cross-sectional national survey initiated in this initial research phase will attempt to strengthen efforts at measuring the margins, starting at the intersection of race and sexuality – first through focus group interviews, followed by the collection of quantitative survey data. The survey focuses on several social determinants of physical, mental, and social well-being; such as race, sexuality, class, immigration, access to healthcare, as well as a variety of other variables and social justice issues.

This project is purposefully a repeated cross-sectional design. As this population is dynamic and changing, so too are their issues and experiences. Only a design such as this will allow for researchers to document such changes and trends. Though the same individuals may not be surveyed at each field period, the same population demographic – LGBT people of color – will be.

In addition to the purposes discussed above, this project will have several other impacts:

• networking individuals (in)to institutions, local organizations, and services, who might not be otherwise connected;
• developing stronger ties between local organizations that might not have had the opportunity to cooperate instead of compete for limited resources;
• training local community activists who may want to subsequently sample – either qualitatively or quantitatively – their own local populations; and
• training undergraduate students, graduate students, as well as local researchers to conduct participatory action work.

This entire project will be implemented with a clear effort to involve and impact three key communities (and their relevant stakeholders) vital to substantial community change and empowerment: the community of organizers, advocates, and policy makers; the community of practitioners; and the community of academicians and researchers. Ultimately, the end product of this endeavor is to produce as well as impact research, policy, and evidence-based knowledge that will serve as a springboard for ideas, strategies, and programs that creative and committed thought leaders and institutions can use to improve the quality of life for LGBT people of color.