Racially Focused LGBQ Pride Events: The Promotion of Psychological Wellbeing Among Cisgender LGBQ People of Color

Abstract

AbstractLesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer/questioning people of color (LGBQ POC) are disproportionately more likely to experience issues related to their mental health when compared to their White counterparts. In spite of this persistent mental health disparity, few studies have been dedicated to identifying mental health-related promotive factors among LGBQ POC adults. The current study examined the extent to which attending LGBQ POC Pride events (e. g., Black Pride Festival) was associated with cisgender LGBQ POC’s psychological wellbeing. I hypothesized that attendance would be positively associated with psychological well-being due to the unique sociocultural resources offered at these events. I further hypothesized that participants’ racial/ethnic identity or gender would modulate these effects. Hypotheses were tested using multiple linear regression with data from the 2013 Social Justice Sexuality Project (n = 2,486). Attending LGBQ POC Pride events was positively associated with cisgender LGBQ POC’s psychological wellbeing. Post hoc multigroup analysis indicated that participants’ racial/ethnic identity or gender did not moderate these effects. Findings suggest that attending racially focused LGBQ Pride events may offer cisgender LGBQ POC’s unique psychological resources that are not provided by general LGBQ Pride events.Public Health SignificanceLGBQ people of color (POC) are a multiply marginalized population vulnerable to increased levels of psychological distress that is unquietly different from their White LGBQ counterparts. Findings suggest that increasing the prevalence of racially focused Pride events may contribute to the psychological wellbeing of LGBQ POC.