Religion and Spirituality Among Bisexual Black Men in the USA

Abstract

Traditionally, religion has been a major source of institutional support and well-being for Black people in the USA. However, when juxtaposed against sexuality, religion's positive effect upon the lives of non-heterosexual individuals is questionable. Research suggests that non-heterosexuals often abandon structured religion for spirituality due to the homonegativity perpetuated through religious institutions. Although studies have examined religion and spirituality among gays and lesbians, few have examined their roles in the lives of bisexuals. In this study, we analyzed qualitative interviews from 28 bisexual Black men who resided in New York City. In addition to church attendance, participants expressed belonging to religious communities through activities such as music ministry. Despite rejection because of their bisexuality, some participants saw other religious individuals as being accepting of them. Others discussed the church as a place where non-heterosexuals interacted, often for meeting sexual partners. Participants evoked beliefs in God in coping with adverse life experiences; some linked faith to family and sexual responsibilities. Drawing upon relevant literature, we discuss the implications of religion and spirituality for the quality of life of bisexual Black men in the USA.

Full text

Religion and spirituality among bisexual Black men in the USA
WILLIAM L. JEFFRIES IV
1
, BRIAN DODGE
2
, and THEO G. M. SANDFORT
3
1Department of Sociology and Department of Behavioral Science and Community Health, University of
Florida, USA
2Center for Sexual Health Promotion, Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University, USA
3HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, New York State Psychiatric Institute/Columbia University,
USA
Abstract
Traditionally, religion has been a major source of institutional support and well-being for Black
people in the USA. However, when juxtaposed against sexuality, religion's positive effect upon the
lives of non-heterosexual individuals is questionable. Research suggests that non-heterosexuals often
abandon structured religion for spirituality due to the homonegativity perpetuated through religious
institutions. Although studies have examined religion and spirituality among gays and lesbians, few
have examined their roles in the lives of bisexuals. In this study, we analyzed qualitative interviews
from 28 bisexual Black men who resided in New York City. In addition to church attendance,
participants expressed belonging to religious communities through activities such as music ministry.
Despite rejection because of their bisexuality, some participants saw other religious individuals as
being accepting of them. Others discussed the church as a place where non-heterosexuals interacted,
often for meeting sexual partners. Participants evoked beliefs in God in coping with adverse life
experiences; some linked faith to family and sexual responsibilities. Drawing upon relevant literature,
we discuss the implications of religion and spirituality for the quality of life of bisexual Black men
in the USA.
Keywords
Religion; spirituality; bisexuality; Black; USA
Introduction
Black churches have been pivotal to the existence of people of African descent in the USA.
Throughout slavery, the Jim Crow Era and the Civil Rights Movement, they provided Black
people with the social support necessary to cope with crippling racist ideologies that, at best,
regarded them as second-class citizens (Frazier 1964, Mattis 2001, Collins 2004). Black
churches' influence permeates other social institutions as well as beliefs, attitudes and everyday
practices of US Blacks (Frazier 1964, Collins 2004, Ward 2005). They attend church more
frequently (Dawson et al. 1993, Ellison et al. 2000) and they engage in more affective religious
behaviours, such as prayer, than other ethnic groups (Roof and McKinney 1987, Ellison
1993). Even Black persons who denounce Christianity often note religious imagery and
ideology as important to their moral beliefs and practices (Dyson 2003, Ward 2005). Religious
participation has been shown to increase life satisfaction (Ellison 1993) and personal
Correspondence: William L. Jeffries, Department of Sociology, University of Florida, 3219 Turlington Hall, PO Box 117330, Gainesville,
32611-7330, USA..
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Cult Health Sex. 2008 June ; 10(5): 463–477. doi:10.1080/13691050701877526.
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empowerment (Mattis 2001) for US Blacks. It is also protective against morbidity, mortality
(Ellison et al. 2000), mental health problems (Ellison and Gay 1990) and maladaptive coping
with racial discrimination (Bierman 2006).
Churches and homonegativity
Although the historical importance of religion for Black persons is undeniable, the full transfer
of its benefits to non-heterosexuals is contestable. Homonegativity – contempt for individuals
expressing same-sex attractions – is apparent via vehement condemnation of non-heterosexuals
by some Black religious institutions. While a few churches are openly affirming of non-
heterosexual parishioners (Collins 2004, Ward 2005), intolerance of them is especially
pronounced in most others. From pulpits, some Black ministers hurl condescending insults in
their sermons to express disdain toward non-heterosexuals (Fullilove and Fullilove 1999; Ward
2005). While homonegativity is not unique to Black churches in the USA (Wagner et al.
1994, Sweasey 1997, Yip 1997, 1998, 1999, Ellingson et al. 2001, Oswald 2001), it has dire
psychosocial consequences for non-heterosexual Blacks.
Because individuals reared in intolerant religious traditions sometimes internalise the
homonegative views taught by them (Yip 1998), they often suffer feelings of worthlessness
and depression (Wagner et al. 1994). Some scholars suggest that internalised homonegativity
may lead to unsafe sex among non-heterosexual men (Williamson 2000,Huebner et al. 2002).
Due to about half of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases among Black men resulting
from engagement in sex with other men (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2007),
homonegativity has prompted many churches to be silent about the HIV epidemic among Black
Americans (Fullilove and Fullilove 1999). Some scholars, therefore, question the extent to
which Black churches can be instrumental in preventing and responding positively to HIV, by
which non-heterosexual Black men are disproportionately affected (Baker 1999,Ward 2005).
The importance of spirituality for non-heterosexual individuals
Because many non-heterosexuals have encountered condemnation from churches, they often
esteem personal faith in God, or spirituality, higher than the Bible or their religious institutions
(Ritter and O'Neill 1989, Sweasey 1997). Yip (2003) has shown that they also reinterpret
church teachings in light of their own sexualities. Though non-heterosexuals often struggle
with feelings of disapproval from God and churches (Oswald 2001), spirituality may maintain
their formal connections to religious establishments (Ward 2005). For this reason, spirituality
is key to the conceptualisation of religion in the lives of non-heterosexuals. Yip (2003, p. 139)
provided a clear operational definition of spirituality:
[R]eligiosity, seems to embrace two significant components: the adherence to
doctrines and beliefs, propagated by the religious institution; and the observance of
rituals and practices, within a communal religious context. ‘Spirituality’, on the other
hand, denotes a self-based internal journey of experience with the divine. It is about
the relationship between the individual and her/his faith, not necessarily mediated
through the church. It is personal and experiential.
Why focus on bisexual Black men?
Bisexual Black men may be unique in their religious and spiritual experiences. Unlike openly
gay men, they often refrain from disclosing their same-sex attractions and behaviours (Dodge
et al. in press) and few may identify as gay (Jeffries and Dodge, 2007). Bisexual men's
behaviours, therefore, often remain unknown within their religious communities. Given Black
churches' roles in championing heterosexual marriage, these men may regard church
attendance as a way to secure female partners and, simultaneously, avoid homosexual stigma
(Ward 2005). Consequently, bisexual Black men may not experience the condemnation that
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has caused many gays and lesbians to abandon organised religion. Spirituality also may have
considerable prominence given the psychosocial struggles bisexuals have due to rejection from
heterosexuals and homosexuals (Klein 1993, Herek 2002).
Because previous studies of religion and spirituality among non-heterosexuals have not
distinguished bisexuals' experiences (see Clark et al. 1989, Ritter and O'Neill 1989, Peterson
1992, Singer and Deschamps 1994, Sweasey 1997, Yip 1999, Rodriguez and Ouellette 2000,
Crawford et al. 2002, Lemelle 2004), bisexual men have been considered indistinct from gay
men. This erroneous assumption has reified gay/lesbian dominance and bisexual absence in
religious studies of non-heterosexuals (for examples, see Oswald 2001, Lease and Shulman
2003, Lease et al. 2005, Ward 2005). Even so, because few studies have examined the religious
experiences of non-heterosexual Blacks, we know little of bisexual Black men's experiences
with religion and spirituality. Yet, from accounts of bisexual Black men in popular non-fiction
(King 2004, 2005), church attendance, integration within religious communities and faith
appear to be important.
This study is unique in that it is, to our knowledge, the first to empirically examine religion
and spirituality among bisexual Black men. We proceeded with the following research
questions: (1) what is the nature of religious experiences among bisexual Black men? How do
they negotiate religious convictions in light of their sexualities; and (2) how do bisexual Black
men characterise their spiritual convictions? In what ways does spirituality work in tandem to,
yet distinct from, institutional religion?
Methods
Sample
We selected participants from a larger study (n=31) entitled ‘HIV Risk and Prevention among
At-Risk Men Who Have Sex with Both Men and Women’. Its purpose was to identify social
determinants of HIV risk and prevention needs among bisexual Black men in New York City.
We behaviourally operationalised ‘bisexual’ such that all participants reported having engaged
in anal, oral, and/or vaginal sex with at least one male and female partner in the past year.
1
For
the present study, we selected 28 of the 31 men who provided data on religion and spirituality.
Most participants were between the ages of 18 and 30 years (the exceptions were one 36-year-
old and one 44-year-old). Two-thirds were African American (n=18), while others were Afro-
Latino (Brazilian, Panamanian and Puerto Rican; n=3), Afro-Caribbean (Guyanese, Haitian
and West Indian; n=4) or Afro-Native American (n=3). Religious affiliations were as follows:
Baptist (n=5), Catholic (n=2), Islam (n=1), Metropolitan Community Church (n=2), non-
denominational (n=1), Pentecostal (n=3) and United Methodist (n=1). Seven participants did
not specify a denominational affiliation and six had no affiliation. While the largest number of
participants lived in Brooklyn (n=10), our sample included residents of all five boroughs of
New York City. Two-thirds of the participants had some post-secondary education.
Recruitment
African American male and female research assistants conducted recruitment using targeted
sampling techniques (Watters and Biernacki 1989), which were useful given that bisexual
Black men are relatively hidden within homosexual and heterosexual communities. The
assistants recruited participants from nightclubs, street corners and sexual cruising
environments (e.g. parks and restrooms) in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan. They
1
Despite being behaviourally bisexual, our participants possessed a variety of sexual identity labels (i.e. ‘straight’, ‘gay’, ‘sexual’, etc.).
Two men identified themselves as gay in the quotes that we present.
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discretely distributed recruitment materials and informed potential participants to contact the
principal investigator via telephone for screening interviews. The study was approved by the
Institutional Review Board of New York State Psychiatric Institute. Participants were protected
by a Certificate of Confidentiality from the US National Institutes of Health.
Data collection
Between April and July of 2005, the principal investigator, who is Caucasian, conducted 90-
minute, semi-structured qualitative interviews in a private office at Columbia University
Medical Center. The interviews included assessments of the men's families, communities and
social networks. At the start of the interviews, the men were asked, ‘Can you tell me a little bit
about your life while you were growing up?’ Probes assessed aspects of their communities and
families. Towards the end of the interview, the men were asked, ‘In your social networks, are
there people that know that you have sex with men and women?’ and ‘Is your sexuality ever
an issue in any of the communities you participate in?’ Through these questions, we acquired
most religion and spirituality data. However, the men intermittently provided data in other parts
of the interviews. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Aside from
sociodemographic characteristics, no personally-identifying information was collected.
Participants were compensated with US$ 50.
Analyses
Given the dearth of empirical work on religion and spirituality among bisexual Black men, we
used a grounded theory analytical approach (Glaser and Strauss 1967). After multiple readings
of the interviews, we entered transcripts into N-VIVO Version 2.0, a widely-used qualitative
data management package. We then searched within each interview for words related to
religion and spirituality (i.e. church, religion, pray, Bible, God, Lord, Christian, choir and
preach). Next, we created a separate data file that included blocks of text containing all religion
and spirituality data.
Data coding proceeded in three phases (Strauss and Corbin 1998). First, we conducted open
coding of the interviews by carefully re-reading texts and exploring them for the broad concepts
highlighted in the interviews. Essentially, we addressed the following: ‘What are the men
saying about religion and spirituality?’ Here, we identified the participants' distinctions
between institutional religion and personal spirituality (in Results, see ‘Involvement in
religious communities’ and ‘Spirituality in everyday life’). Second, we performed axial coding
by linking the broad categories of religion and spirituality to sub-categories within each of
these. For example, we discovered that several participants used spirituality to cope with
religious condemnation. Therefore, within the broad theme of ‘Spirituality in everyday life’,
we were able to identify the sub-theme of ‘Coping with religious condemnation’. Last, we
conducted selective coding by systematically relating the broad categories of religion and
spirituality to sub-themes by constantly comparing sub-themes across the interviews. Here, we
noted the frequency of each sub-theme's occurrence as well as similarities and differences
among participants. The results of selective coding appear in text that accompanies the
illustrative quotes presented. For confidentiality purposes, we assigned pseudonyms to all
participants.
Results
Involvement in religious communities
Participants spoke of religion in terms of public expressions of faith (e.g. church attendance).
Discussion extended beyond their involvement with particular denominations or religious
groups; they discussed their experiences within a broader religious (primarily Christian)
community that included family and community members as well as non-denominational
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religious groups (e.g. Christian clubs at school). Thirteen participants regularly attended
religious services at the time of our interviews, while all attended with some regularity in the
past. Four participants were actively involved with their churches' music ministries: three were
ministers of music and another sang in his church's choir.
Intolerance of bisexuality
Fifteen participants unequivocally spoke of their bisexuality being unaccepted by their
religious communities. No participants spoke of condemnation that they received for having
non-marital heterosexual sex. All of their condemned sexual relations were those that were
with other men. When asked if they were able to openly discuss their sexuality within the
context of religion, participants provided remarks like ‘I can't talk to them about it’ or ‘I know
that would be an issue there’. Brenton, a 19-year-old performing arts student, discussed the
difficulty he had in coming out to his own family due to the perception that he would not be
accepted upon disclosing his bisexuality:
And then I look at it, you know, on a religious note. I have a strong religious family,
you know. Like my dad is first deacon. His brother is like a pastor. And the other
brother's like a bishop. (What denomination?) Baptist. (OK. So it just probably won't
go over too well?) Right, right.
Similarly, 28-year-old Alonso, a minister of music at his church, expressed frustration in his
church preaching that non-heterosexuals will inevitably ‘go to Hell’ for being ‘that way’.
Although his bisexuality was unknown to people within his religious community, he felt that
it was wrong for his church to condemn non-heterosexual individuals:
[My sexuality is] an issue in church because they're always teaching that God didn't
make Adam and Steve. It's a strong issue in church.
Others felt they had to go to great lengths to keep their sexuality hidden from their religious
communities. Malik, a devout Muslim and our only Muslim participant, converted to Islam
while in prison. This 27-year-old highlighted the immediate threat to his life if people within
his religious community discovered his bisexuality:
It scares me … the wrong people find out, how much respect I would lose. My life
could be in jeopardy, and, you never know. (If people found out you have sex with
guys?) Yeah, I'll be in trouble. (Even though you have sex with women, too?) Yeah,
they wouldn't like it. That would be even worse, though. ‘How you fuckin' guys when
you fuck women? Like, what's the matter with you?’ (So, how does that feel, being
a Muslim, but being bisexual?) It feels dangerous, sometimes, because I've got to be
careful who I run into, who I mess with, you know? I've got to be careful.
Some participants had been told by religious members of their families that they would be
eternally damned to Hell for being bisexual. These participants typically hid their bisexuality
from their religious communities. Two participants experienced such condemnation from their
mothers. For example, Antonio, a 21-year-old Trinidadian immigrant, revealed:
I've heard my mother say some things about bisexual people, that they're nasty, they're
the reason for the [HIV] epidemic … besides the fact that we're all going to hell. My
sexuality is worse than being gay, because at least you know what you're dealing with.
At least you know what that person wants. But someone who's bisexual, you don't
know. You're doing everything with anyone. You know what I mean?
The previous two examples highlight the unique stressors and stigma that bisexual men may
face in their religious communities. As the second participant described, bisexuality was often
perceived as ‘worse’ than homosexuality within the social networks of many participants. This
is consistent with social intolerance of bisexuality reported in other studies (see Herek 2002).
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Two participants discussed instances of ministers within their religious communities trying to
convert them to heterosexuality. Although the American Psychiatric Association (2000) and
other health-related entities denounce conversion therapies, religious groups often claim
success in converting non-heterosexuals to heterosexuality (see Exodus International 2006).
These participants were told to pray or do other spiritual activities in order for God to change
their sexualities. Corey, a 19-year-old college student and frequent church attendee, described
an experience with his pastor, who prayed for him to become heterosexual:
My pastor's one … he knows about me. So I go in there, I was going to do my change.
So he was just like, you know, asking God to give me strength, and that I'm going to
make it, I'm going to do my change, and this and that. (He knew about the change?)
Yeah, I had told him. He said, ‘You're going to make it. So you're going to be just
like me. And Donnie McClurkin [the Gospel singer] used to be gay. But, he was
delivered from it.’
The purported sexual conversion of Donnie McClurkin, a Grammy award-winning Gospel
singer, is frequently cited by Black ministers who use homonegative rhetoric to justify their
actions toward non-heterosexuals. They assume that if Donnie McClurkin could (presumably)
change, then so can other non-heterosexual men (Boykin 2005).
Tolerance of bisexuality
Despite the general sentiment that their religious communities were not accepting of them, five
participants noted that individual members or churches sometimes expressed complete
tolerance. Alex, a 20-year-old, unemployed resident of Brooklyn, did not make his sexual
orientation known to members of his church. However, he felt as though, upon knowing that
he was bisexual, they would still be accepting because of the church's tolerance of
nonheterosexuals. After being asked about the potential consequences of disclosing his
bisexuality, he responded:
Um, I doubt anything would happen. I mean, they can't judge me. You know, 'cause
their motto is only God can judge us.
For two participants, acceptance came by way of attending one of the Metropolitan Community
Churches (MCCs), which are widely known as ‘gay’ churches (Yip 1998). Dante, a 21-year-
old escort, expressed his frustration with the traditional Christianity he experienced while living
in the southeastern USA. He regarded the MCC as a place where he could openly be bisexual:
And that's why I had to get away from South Carolina. Because people down there
are just so closed-minded … they just like to condemn you. And, you know, my
[foster] mother used to call me, all the time, a dick sucking faggot, in front of my
nieces and nephews and stuff, just really, you know, put me down and stuff. And in
church! In church, especially down there, they love to throw the homosexuality thing
in your face. That's why I go to a gay church. I don't have time for that. Because as
soon as you step in a hetero-, so-called heterosexual church, everybody looks at you.
And everybody looks at you like you're not supposed to be there.
Don't ask, don't tell
Four participants discussed that they were welcomed to be a part of their Christian
communities, but they were expected not to make their sexualities explicit (see also Peterson
1992, Zulu 1996, Stokes et al. 1998, Woodyard et al. 2000, Collins 2004, Ward 2005, Boykin
2006). Josh, a 25-year-old police officer, appreciated that his church would not make an issue
of his sexual orientation had they known that he was bisexual. However, like many other
participants, this would only be the case if his sexuality was not openly displayed to his
congregation:
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Actually, that's what I love about the church: they don't discuss it. With old Southern
traditional Baptists it's like you don't discuss it, and that's what I like about it. (What
do you think would happen if they knew about your sexuality?) They would try to
change me, you know. That's something that I wouldn't like. (But you still feel
comfortable and accepted there?) Yeah.
Church as a sexually diverse community
Despite the homonegativity encountered in churches, nine participants expressed that other
non-heterosexuals regularly interacted within their religious communities; or, they knew non-
heterosexuals who were actively involved in churches. Despite some of these churches being
staunchly opposed to deviations from heterosexuality, other nonheterosexuals provided a sense
of community and, thus, made them feel connected to their churches. For example, Michael,
a 26-year-old professional in the securities industry, felt that church was the one place in which
he did not have to hide too much simply because of the presence of others like himself:
You've got to be careful. And you've got to use control, that is, keeping everybody
separate. You know, you just don't want people to run into you anywhere. (Right. So
it's kind of keeping lots of separate worlds?) Yeah. But in some cases, they're
geographically separated … except in church.
The second dimension of this theme emphasised the Christian community as a place to meet
sexual partners. Six participants engaged in sexual relationships with men that they met at
church or through religious activities. For example, Clay, a 44-year-old grandfather said:
Some of them I may have met through other friends. Some of them I may have met
in a supermarket or at church. [One recent partner] was a family friend. During one
of [me and my wife's] separations, he came on to me. And I kind of said, do you think
it's time for you to go home? And then we got over that and became friends. We were
very much in the church.
2
And then, sometime later on, after our final separation, we
winded up having oral sex.
Spirituality in everyday life
Our participants clearly distinguished between religion and spirituality (Sweasey 1997, Yip
1999, Oswald 2001). The men expressed spirituality in terms of their own faith and personal
relationships with God. They often questioned sanctions touted by organised religious entities
and, in the face of religious condemnation, used spirituality to validate themselves as bisexual
men. As well, several drew upon Biblical passages and church teachings (e.g. ‘God is loving’
and ‘only God can judge me’) to positively view themselves and counteract homonegative
views of religious groups. Spirituality as a coping mechanism was most prominent.
Coping with bisexuality
Seven participants used their faith to cope with discomfort they felt about their sexuality and/
or ill treatment that they received as a result of it. Some had friends and family members who
regarded them as ‘confused’ and ‘sick’ for being attracted to men and women. Others had
internalised negative stereotypes about bisexual men but felt that God validated them despite
their bisexuality. These participants relied upon prayer, Bible reading and meditation. Phillip,
a 19-year-old fast-food restaurant employee, expressed frustration that he felt for being
bisexual and negative perceptions that others possessed of him:
2
Among African Americans, ‘in the church’ is synonymously used with ‘saved’ or ‘Christian’. It denotes being an active member
of the Christian community rather than mere church attendance (see Boykin 2006).
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God said, you know, go on this Earth, be fruitful and multiply, you know, leave the
Earth happy. And I think that he knows, because … well a lot of times, people don't
let me be gay. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, God, can I wake up tomorrow,
just don't like boys anymore? But it doesn't never happen. And, you know, I tried to,
make some sense in my head, and it's that the solution I came up with is that he knows,
and he knows that I can't control it, and that he knows what's going on. I mean, he has
to accept that, because, I mean, like, why would he not like me, and why would he
want to send me to Hell, if I can't control this feeling, and I want to do it, and if I don't
do it, I'm going to be unhappy?
Coping with religious condemnation
Four participants drew upon their spirituality in order to cope with hostility from religious
people. Rather than abandoning religious teachings and denouncing their beliefs, these men
used spirituality to validate their senses of personhood amid intolerance. In their narratives,
they often evoked a naturalistic view of sexuality, one that presumed that sexual orientation
was instilled by God at birth and, therefore, beyond their control. For example, Dante revealed:
I don't believe that all gay people are going to Hell. That's the first thing people like
to throw up in your face. You know, we are going to Hell. I don't believe that at all.
Because the Lord knew who I was going to be, who and what I was going to be before
I was put on this earth … I didn't have a choice. You know, people'll be like, oh, it's
a choice whether or not you're gay. No, it's not, really. I don't think I was born straight.
Because even when I was younger, I always had sort of an attraction for men.
Coping with other adversity
Three participants used spirituality to cope with difficult life experiences. One participant
shared his belief that God enabled him to endure emotional, physical and sexual abuse as a
child, while another discussed God's help in coping with an HIV-positive diagnosis. Sean, a
24-year-old college student, felt God helped him to cope with an abortion that his cohabiting
partner secretly obtained, despite his wishes to become a father:
Yeah, I wanted another baby. She actually had, she had gotten pregnant, but she got
an abortion. (So you wanted a baby and she had an abortion?) Yeah. (How did that
make you feel?) I was hurt, I was hurt. I just brushed it off because I just thought …
I guess it wasn't my time. I guess God, I just thought God said it wasn't my time to
be a father right now. Or, maybe she wasn't the right person. You know. But I was
hurt, I tried to play like I wasn't hurt. But I was hurt. But, then still … in a way, I'm
thankful because she's just not a right mother.
God as protector
Related to the theme of coping with adversity was the notion that God had protected or would
protect participants from danger, bodily harm or death. However, we distinguish this theme
from that of coping because the men specifically emphasised ‘protection’. Several men credited
God for being free from HIV, other sexually transmitted infections or ill health. Others felt that
prayer and spiritual devotion would protect them from harmful circumstances. Rather than
simply saying ‘thank God’ as a sigh of relief that they escaped what would have otherwise
been the inevitable, our participants' statements regarding God as a protector were interwoven
with their narratives on spirituality. Six participants provided data on the concept of protection.
Derrick, a 23-year-old actor with a brief history of drug use, felt as though God protected him
from a potential overdose and other threats to his life:
I feel like God is the sustainer of my mind and my heart. And he's been there. He's
gotten me this far. It's been five and a half years, almost six years, and I could've
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already killed myself, could have already OD'd [overdosed]. Could have done a lot
of things. But I just thank God that [I didn't].
Responsibility
The last theme that emerged was the men's moral responsibilities consequent to their spiritual
convictions. For the three participants who provided data on this theme, responsibility was
discussed in terms of future monogamy (usually in a heterosexual marriage). Monogamy was
perceived as essential for honouring their future partners, families and religious communities.
The men desired to be sexually-active with only their wives upon becoming married because
it was the ‘Christian thing to do’. Michael, when asked about his desires for the future, said:
I mean, even though I say sometimes, you know, I'd be in love with her, and
realistically speaking, though, those little quick run-ins, you know, I can't say that I
would not allow that to happen. You know, I try to think that maybe I'll fill in all this
void time with my children, my family. (Would [quick run-ins] be a bad thing?) You
know, I'm one … that's more an issue because I'm so Christian … I want to be fair
and honest to people. That's the Christian thing to do, not so much selfishness.
Related to the notion of relationship fidelity was family responsibility and, notably, the
importance of setting positive examples for youth. Alonso articulated this in his narrative by
emphasizing commitment to children within his future procreative family as well as youth at
his local church. He felt that sexual fidelity in a heterosexual marriage would correctly model
the lifestyle becoming of a Christian father:
I mean, it's just the way I look at it. I mean, it's my opinion … do this stuff [sex with
men and women] before you get married. [B]ecause I'm in Church, you're making a
promise before God, and I just can't (laughter) … certain things you got to stop. You
know, you get to a point where you want it to stop, enough is enough. And that's why
I say, when I get married and make my kids, you know, it's going to have to be strictly
be straight … I'm in a leadership role, and I want to be a positive role model, and I
got young people looking up to me …
No participants expressed the possibility of being a responsible leader or role model while
simultaneously being bisexual.
Discussion
The bisexual Black men in this study esteemed religion and spirituality as vital components to
their lives. Religion's importance extended beyond mere church attendance and doctrinal
beliefs. Half of them currently attended church and they discussed church attendance and
religious worship as deeply intertwined with family and community life. Their strong spiritual
convictions were evident as they discussed their beliefs by drawing upon life experiences,
Biblical passages, and church teachings (see also King 2004, 2005). These findings distinguish
bisexual Black men from lesbians and gays (including, perhaps, those who are Black), for
whom institutional religion has been found less significant in providing meaning in life (Ritter
and O'Neill 1989, Singer and Deschamps 1994, Sweasey 1997, Yip 2003). That we acquired
a substantial amount of in-depth data on religion and spirituality from a study that was not
specifically designed to acquire such data is, perhaps, testament to the religious heritage
sustained by bisexual men of African descent in the USA. Without considerable probing,
participants in this study candidly volunteered information on the roles of religion and
spirituality in their lives.
It is arguable that bisexuality distinctly influences bisexual Black men's negotiations of
religious life and spirituality. Our participants' re-evaluations of church doctrines and their
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religious upbringings engendered affirmative spiritual beliefs. Given the historical relevance
of US Black churches for Black people, it is not surprising that many bisexual Black men,
especially those able to conceal their bisexuality, would actively participate in churches and
draw upon their spiritual beliefs to cope with hardships (Collins 2004, Ward 2005). However,
bisexual Black men may uniquely experience religion. They are socially marginal to White
communities and White gay communities (Cahill et al. 2003). Simultaneously, due to their
bisexuality, they are not fully accepted into Black, or Black gay, communities (Peterson
1992, Stokes et al. 1998, Ward 2005). For these reasons, bisexual Black men may be more
likely than even Black gays and lesbians to seek solace in religion. Moreover, given the lack
of social validation available to them on the basis of their bisexuality, they are forced to
constantly re-examine their identities and existences. Questions such as ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Why
am I here?’ are often left unanswered for bisexual men (Sweasey 1997). Consequently, bisexual
Black men may use spirituality to empower themselves.
A minority of participants felt accepted by their churches' enactments of ‘don't ask, don't tell’
and others expressed complete tolerance from churches or individual church members. The
‘love the sinner, hate the sin' attitude of Black churches toward non-heterosexuals has left
bisexual and gay Black men within the embrace of their churches (Stokes et al. 1998, Collins
2004). Because of the moderate degree of music ministry involvement among participants,
marginal acceptance of these men may be how churches balance doctrine with need to employ
these valuable members (Zulu 1996, Fullilove and Fullilove 1999; Woodyard et al. 2000,
Collins 2004, Ward 2005). Given the outright acceptance experienced by several participants,
it is clear that, despite denominational injunctions, some members were compelled to be
accepting of the men because of their faith convictions. For some religious people faith
mandates unconditional love for all (Lease and Shulman 2003) and this likely motivated our
participants to maintain their ties to churches. This argument is consistent with findings on
White (Sweasey 1997, Yip 1998, Lease and Shulman 2003) and Black (Crawford et al.
2002) non-heterosexuals.
Nonetheless, many men's religious communities were intolerant of them because of their same-
sex orientations (Clark et al. 1989, Sweasey 1997, Woodyard et al. 2000, Oswald 2001, Boykin
2005, Ward 2005). In this regard, the experiences of bisexual Black men are similar to those
of gay men. Religious intolerance and condemnation sometimes were accentuated due to their
attractions to men and women rather than men alone. For others, religion promoted a desire to
become heterosexual in order to be respectable fathers, romantic partners and church leaders.
These findings raise issues regarding the quality of life implications that religion has for
bisexual men: (1) do bisexual men reap long-term health benefits through religious
participation? (2) does religious participation buffer racial and socioeconomic marginalisation
for bisexual Black men?, and (3) how might bisexuality mediate social and psychological
effects of religion upon well-being? Although our study cannot answer these questions, it does
highlight the need to be attentive to issues of sexuality when considering the quality of life
benefits of religion (Lease et al. 2005).
Our findings suggest that affirmative spiritual and religious experiences may be beneficial for
bisexual Black men's psychological well-being. Although we did not directly investigate health
effects of religion and spirituality, spirituality was used to cope with sexuality discomfort, life
adversity and condemnation from religious people. The willingness of participants to use
spirituality to cope with various life challenges testifies to its importance for these men.
Because the internalisation of homonegativity is associated with adverse health outcomes
among non-heterosexuals (Williamson 2000), it is possible that spiritual coping helps buffer
the deleterious effects of anti-bisexual sentiment. Other studies have found that affirmative
spirituality is beneficial for the mental health of non-heterosexuals because it decreases the
likelihood of internalising homonegativity propagated by religious institutions (Wagner et al.
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1994, Lease et al. 2005). Although further research is needed to examine the relationships
between spirituality, coping and sexual orientation, spiritual coping is perhaps a vital mediator
of bisexual stigma and the internalisation of it.
As with all research, this study has limitations. The small sample size and purposive sampling
strategy prevent our findings from being generalisable to all bisexual Black men in the USA.
Also, we did not acquire data from three of our 31 original participants, who may have been
qualitatively different than those who willingly volunteered religion and spirituality data.
Although the religious diversity of our study somewhat mirrors the religious diversity of people
of African descent living in the USA, we have limited knowledge of the men's denominational
affiliations. Given the increasingly affirming stances that many churches have now taken
toward non-heterosexuals (Wagner et al. 1994; Lease et al. 2005), such knowledge would have
been useful for comparison among participants. Moreover, although using Black research
assistants for recruitment likely facilitated the men's willingness to respond to recruitment
materials, the use of a White interviewer may have influenced participants' responses in
different ways than if a Black interviewer had been used. More data are needed to determine
the potential impact of ethnic concordance between interviewers and interviewees on
qualitative data collection. Last, because religion and spirituality were not primary foci during
the data collection phase, we likely reduced the quality of in-depth data related to religion and
spiritual belief formation.
Future studies of bisexual Black men should be especially attentive to religion and spirituality
as it is likely that they will influence the men's social and sexual relationships, identities and
values. Research should also examine the effects of religion and spirituality upon health and
quality of life among this population as little remains known in this regard.
Acknowledgments
The authors sincerely thank their participants. This study was supported by the HIV Center Pilot Studies Program
Award from the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and
Columbia University (P30 MH43520, Anke A. Ehrhardt, Principal Investigator) and the Behavioral Sciences Research
Training in HIV Infection postdoctoral fellowship (NRSA T32 MH19139, Anke A. Ehrhardt, Program Director), both
awarded to the second author. During the production of this manuscript, the first author acknowledges support in the
form of the McKnight Doctoral Fellowship from the Florida Education Fund. All authors would like to thank Toby
Anekwe of Harvard University and Leslie Campbell of the Minority Task Force on AIDS for their invaluable assistance
with participant recruitment.
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