AUTHOR=Couzens Jimmy , Mahoney Berenice , Wilkinson Dean 

TITLE=“It's Just More Acceptable To Be White or Mixed Race and Gay Than Black and Gay”: The Perceptions and Experiences of Homophobia in St. Lucia

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00947

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00947

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p>Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals come from diverse cultural groups with differing ethnic and racial identities. However, most research on LGB people uses white western samples and studies of Afro-Caribbean diaspora often use Jamaican samples. Thus, the complexity of Afro-Caribbean LGB peoples' experiences of homophobia is largely unknown. The authors' analyses explore experiences of homophobia among LGB people in St. Lucia. Findings indicate issues of skin-shade orientated tolerance, regionalized disparities in levels of tolerance toward LGB people and regionalized <italic>passing</italic> (regionalized sexual identity shifting). Finally, the authors' findings indicate that skin shade identities and regional location influence the psychological health outcomes of homophobia experienced by LGB people in St. Lucia.</p>