Toward a Culturally Specific Spirituality for Black Sexual Minority Men

Abstract

Spirituality is a culturally relevant phenomenon that has been found to significantly affect Black sexual minority (SM) men’s health in the United States. However, many studies that have investigated spirituality among Black SM men have often used conceptualizations of spirituality that were not defined by this group. This research investigation used qualitative methods to determine how Black SM men defined spirituality for themselves. Ten Black SM men from across the United States were individually interviewed via Zoom videoconferencing. Grounded theory analyses revealed four themes that described Black SM men’s culturally specific spirituality: (a) spiritual definition, (b) specificity of Black SM men’s spirituality, (c) physical manifestations of spirituality, and (d) images of the sacred. The implications of these findings for future research and clinical work with Black SM men, within a Black psychological framework, are discussed.

Keywords

Black men MSM spirituality Afrocentric intersectionality sexual minority

Spirituality has often been identified by many Black sexual minority (i.e., gay, bisexual, same-gender-loving; SM) men as a self-enhancing cultural resource (Lassiter, Saleh, Starks, et al., 2017; Means & Jaeger, 2016). Psychological and public health literature suggest that higher levels of spirituality are generally associated with experiencing higher levels of well-being and fewer, or less severe, negative health conditions (Kendrick, 2017; Park et al., 2018). While these findings are informative, mainstream health literature has heavily relied on an understanding of spirituality that is often based in monotheistic, Abrahamic, or culturally indistinct conceptualizations of the spiritual world (Chatters et al., 2008; Miller & Thoresen, 2003). Furthermore, spirituality is often conflated with religious beliefs and practices (Carrico et al., 2017; Drumhiller et al., 2018). These conflations of definitions and constructs confound an understanding of how one’s direct relationship with the sacred influences the material world. Such conflations also fail to sufficiently consider the meanings of spirituality for Black SM men and the unique cultural context in which spirituality is manifested in their lives.

This culturally nonspecific conceptualization of spirituality may be a barrier to supporting the overall physical and psychological health of Black SM men. Researchers have called attention to the ways in which research and interventions that do not fully consider the influence of culture on Black SM men’s lives fail to meet their needs (Levy et al., 2014; Mays et al., 2004). For example, health programming that is not culturally tailored may fail to effectively engage Black SM men (Harawa et al., 2013). Nonspecific conceptualizations of spirituality may contribute to construct incongruence in how scientists apply a noncultural and noncontext-based description of spirituality versus how Black SM men may actually perceive it. This incongruence between scientists and Black SM men’s understanding of spirituality may be due to the fact that most social science research conducted about spirituality is often done with all or predominately White samples (Kapuscinski & Masters, 2010; Lewis, 2008). Furthermore, when social science studies about spirituality are conducted with Black American samples, the samples are often presumed to be heterosexual (Jagers & Smith, 1996). In this way, Black SM men often suffer intersectional invisibility (e.g., being excluded from discourses about a group because one has an intersecting identity that is considered outside of the norm for that group) in spirituality-health research (Purdie-Vaughns & Eibach, 2008). This exclusion in spirituality-health research is especially troubling given that Black SM men experience inequities in health and social conditions (e.g., HIV, incarceration, suicide; Brewer et al., 2014; Gant et al., 2014; Wilton et al., 2018). Spirituality may be an important factor that can help this group navigate those inequities. However, we have limited data to determine this premise. To address this gap that has contributed to Black SM men being marginalized in spirituality-health research, we present the findings of a qualitative study aimed at defining culturally specific spirituality for Black SM men in the United States. We respond to Jamison’s (2018) call for more attention in Black psychological research to the lives of SM people. Toward these aims, the authors contemplate how the findings from the study fit within a Black psychological context, may expand Black psychology as a distinct discipline, and contribute to the overall well-being of Black SM men.

Meanings of Spirituality

Spirituality (as a distinct phenomenon from religion) has been defined several ways in mainstream U.S. psychological and public health literature. The underlying characteristic of spirituality seems to be “the search for the sacred” (Pargament et al., 2013, p. 14), where “search” refers to “the ongoing journey of discovery, conservation, and transformation” (p. 15). “Sacred” refers to the “concepts of God and higher powers [and] to other aspects of life that are perceived to be manifestations of the divine or imbued with divinelike qualities, such as transcendence, immanence, boundlessness, and ultimacy” (Pargament et al., 2013, p. 14). Succinctly, spirituality is most often considered to be a more individual, direct relationship with the sacred that helps one make meaning of life and behave in ways that are consistent with that sacred relationship (Hill et al., 2000; Zinnbauer et al., 1997; Zinnbauer et al., 1999). This understanding of spirituality is a broad one that is conducive to a universal application of the term and phenomenon. While such a universal definition ensures that spirituality can be comprehended and appropriated for a wide range of individuals, it does not take into account the unique lived experiences of the people manifesting spirituality.

There is a growing body of literature that has explored more culturally specific conceptualizations of spirituality. When examining definitions of spirituality among general populations of SM people, studies have found that spirituality is often thought of as having a primarily relational focus. Halkitis et al. (2009) conducted a study with a predominately non-Black sample (i.e., 8.6% of Black people) of sexual and gender minority adults (i.e., people who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) to better understand how these groups defined religion and spirituality. The researchers found that participants defined spirituality as “a belief in a divine and/or sacred force” (Halkitis et al., 2009, p. 255) that helps one connect better with one’s self and others, while informing meaning making and moral behavior. The definitions generated by this sample of SM people are similar to the definitions found among primarily heterosexual, cisgender, and White groups.

There are a few studies that provide conceptualizations of spirituality that seem to be more unique to SM people’s experiences. Rodgers (1995) described a spirituality particular to radical faeries, described as “queer people who believe there [is] a uniquely queer way of seeing and experiencing the world” (p. 34). This spirituality was defined by an emphasis on androgyny—the space of one who lives between the physical and spiritual realms. It should be noted that this definition of androgyny is different from the common one which emphasizes the combination of masculine and feminine traits into an ambiguous form. Instead, Rodgers uses this term to describe the liminal space radical faeries occupy between human and sacred worlds. In addition, radical faeries view the proper relationship of all living things as connected in nonhierarchal relationships free of exploitation. Boisvert (1999) described a racially nonidentified gay spirituality that is defined by its uniquely American character and context. Spirituality was conceptualized as a definitional enterprise that was mostly concerned with providing a language to name, understand, and publicly/politically profess the common experiences of gay men in an often homonegative U.S. context. These definitions highlight the sexual orientation-based prejudice faced by many SM people, but are limited in their generalizability given their focus on White European American gay men’s experiences at the exclusion of racial, gender, and other forms of diversity.

The psychological literature has provided some insight into the ways in which spirituality is defined and understood by people of African descent (Jagers & Smith, 1996; Taylor et al., 2009). For example, Mattis (2000, 2002) reported that Black American women understood spirituality to be mainly a functional phenomenon that helped them act with purpose, achieve growth, and cope with life challenges either by transcending or accepting them. Other researchers’ findings have corroborated the aforementioned results and also further explained that often Black American people’s spirituality is action-oriented (Lewis et al., 2007). Along these lines, spirituality is expressed through doing loving acts for others regardless of their personal background (Mattis, 2002). Finally, Black American’s spirituality is distinguished from other forms of spirituality due to its African roots (Raboteau, 1978; Wheeler et al., 2002). It has also been fundamentally shaped by a history of discrimination as evidenced by chattel slavery (Harding, 1997), Jim Crow (Higginbotham, 1997), the crack epidemic (Dixon & Azibo, 1998), mass incarceration (Alexander, 2012), threat of police brutality for living while Black (Douglas, 2015), and several other chronic and pervasive forms of Black discrimination. This history of discrimination has deprived Black Americans of material and physical security. Spirituality is one of the few coping and fortifying resources that remain available to Black Americans that is not controlled by external factors. Overall, the reviewed studies have illuminated myriad overlapping yet distinct definitions of spirituality among White SM people and Black heterosexual people. These studies, however, did not directly consider the meaning and utility of spirituality among Black SM men, in particular. This gap needs to be addressed given the distinct and intersectional health and socioeconomic inequities Black SM men face in their daily lives.

Few empirical investigations have queried Black SM men about their understanding of spirituality or about the manifestation of that spirituality in their lives (Bryant & Bowman, 2011; Follins et al., 2014). A study by Jeffries et al. (2008) found that Black bisexual men conceptualized spirituality in terms of having “personal relationships with God” (p. 469) whom they described as a protector from “danger, bodily harm, or death” (p. 470). They also identified spirituality as a coping mechanism for navigating homonegative hostility from religious people as well as a guide in their moral behavior within the context of interpersonal relationships. Another study, conducted with Black SM men ages 18 to 30 years, found that many of them conceptualized spirituality as an inner strength that served as a motivational force that provided energy and inspiration for young men experiencing the stress of life challenges (Foster et al., 2011). These studies underscore the understanding of spirituality as an individual relationship that is primarily coping-oriented. However, these characteristics of spirituality are similar with those found among White American SM people and heterosexual Black Americans. The distinguishing quality of Black SM men’s spirituality along with how it aligns with a Black psychological conception of spirituality remains understudied in the extant literature. Analyzing Black SM men’s spirituality within the broader context of Black psychology has the potential of illuminating the importance of Black SM men to the Black psychology philosophical paradigm and vice versa. Thereby, opening intellectual avenues through which Black psychology scholars can begin to deeply engage with the intersections of race, sexuality, and gender.

Black Psychology, Spirituality, and Health

Black psychology is a distinct discipline in which the primary goal is the illumination of the human spirit (Nobles, 1986; Piper-Mandy & Rowe, 2010). Spirit has been defined as a “vital force that animates us and connects us to the rhythms of the universe, nature, the ancestors, and the community” (Wheeler et al., 2002, p. 73) that “allows the Self to merge (extend) into the totality of phenomenal experience” (Kambon & Bowen-Reid, 2010, p. 97). Aligned with these definitions, spirituality can be interpreted as the process of connecting in deeper and substantive ways with the universe, nature, ancestors, and community (alive, unborn, and dead). This spirituality is perceived as fostering a link between the spiritual and material realms. It is this link between spiritual and material realms that empowers people to act in ways that are conducive to liberation and institution building despite subjection to oppressive systems (Akbar, 2003). This culturally specific definition of spirituality emphasizes a multidimensional connection with the infinite, beyond one’s physical body and material world, while being focused on the lived realities of Black people.

Black psychology has the potential to contribute to the physical, emotional, socioeconomic, and sociocultural well-being of Black SM men. However, Black SM men’s experiences have been understudied in the field of Black psychology (Spivey & Greene, 2014). In recent years, a growing number of Afrocentric scholars (Hopkinson & Myers, 2018; Klinken & Phiri, 2015; Maat, 2014; Williams, 2007, 2016) have started to critically engage with heterosexism, homonegativity, binegativity, and transnegativity within the Black psychology field. For example, Maat (2014) has applied a Kemetic model of the cosmological interactive self to highlight the spiritual underpinnings of sexual attraction. She described concepts such as the unlimited potential of the body, nongendered beingness, and Maatian attraction (i.e., pull of complementary spiritual forces that guide one’s life) as determinants of sexual attraction beyond biological and anatomical designations. Williams (2007, 2016) has theorized that pleasure and the erotic are integral to the decolonization of Black minds and bodies. He proposed that knowledge can be generated in the erotic and that “bodies have just as much ability to save minds, spirits and souls” (Williams, 2016, p. 12). In sum, these Afrocentric scholars, cited above, have purported that people are not limited by their anatomic structures and the corresponding, constructed gender designations based in binary Western epistemologies. The enactment of same-sex attractions, behaviors, and identity in the physical realm happens in accordance with African cosmology. The expansion of Black psychology toward a critical, nonpathological engagement with sexual orientation and gender diversity is in its nascent stage with significant gaps remaining.

Intersectionality and Intersectional Invisibility

A more deliberate inclusion of Black SM men will require the social science disciplines to incorporate intersectionality and intersectional invisibility into the work. Black SM men possess multiple intersecting social identities (e.g., race, sexual orientation, gender) that are currently and have historically been marginalized by macrosystems of oppression (e.g., White supremacy, patriarchy, capitalism) in both Black heterosexual communities and non-Black spheres (Greene, 2011). Furthermore, Black SM men often are subjected to intersectional invisibility. It is often the case that Black SM men are not considered prototypical members of the groups to which they belong (e.g., Black American people and SM people) and are thus pushed into the margins of already oppressed groups (Purdie-Vaughns & Eibach, 2008; Spivey & Greene, 2014). This marginalization due to Black SM men’s multiple intersecting identities can act as a barrier to them fully developing and engaging their spirituality.

There are several ways in which Black SM men may feel spiritually marginalized. Some Black SM men may believe that their gender is marginalized in some spiritual spaces (e.g., churches) that are composed predominantly of women and emphasize stereotypically feminine expressive forms of worship (e.g., shouting, singing; Lassiter, 2016; Murrow, 2005). There may be some Black SM men who feel disconnected from their spirituality due to a lack of racial inclusion in spiritual spaces that are predominantly composed of White attendants (e.g., meditation retreats) and invoke non-Black sacred imagery (e.g., White European Christian God, blue and white Shiva). In addition, many Black SM men have reported feeling disconnected from spirituality due to the pathologizing of their sexual orientation in homonegative environments where many first learned about the spiritual world (Lassiter, 2014, 2016). Indeed, there are some men who have experienced all three forms of marginlization simultaneously. The majority of spirituality-health research does not take these marginalizations into account and produces scholarship that mimics this lack of representation of Black SM men (Follins & Lassiter, 2017). This approach is counter to the suggestions of several Black feminist theorists (Bowleg, 2012; Collins, 2009; Crenshaw, 1989) who suggest that intersectionally marginalized people’s experiences should be the focal point of scholarly inquiry and political action. More scholarship that directly addresses the distinct attributes of Black SM men’s spirituality and its influence in their lives is needed. The purpose of this study is to address this knowledge gap.

Study Aim and Research Questions

This study was conducted to address the gaps in the extant spirituality-health literature and Black psychology research that have been outlined above. Particularly, the authors sought to understand the distinct perspectives of Black SM men at the intersections of race, sexual orientation, gender, and spirituality. The authors hoped that by focusing on how these often-marginalized men perceive spirituality in their life and use it to thrive will highlight this group’s strengths. Furthermore, this study is an attempt to move both research fields (i.e., spirituality-health literature and Black psychology research) toward more inclusiveness. The study described in this article focused on Black SM men’s definitions of spirituality. The following research questions are considered here:

Research Question 1: How do Black SM men define spirituality?

Research Question 2: How is their personal definition of spirituality different from the spirituality of others who are not Black SM men?

Research Question 3: How is spirituality manifested in the lives of Black SM men?

Research Question 4: What is the image of the sacred for Black SM men?

Method

Study Overview

The Spirituality Everyday, Everywhere (SEE) Study was conducted from March 2017 to November 2017 with the purpose of investigating how Black SM men in the United States defined spirituality and understood its role in their lives. We used grounded theory methodology to achieve these aims (Charmaz, 2014).

Participants

Ten Black SM men were enrolled in the study. All men except for one identified as cisgender men (assigned male sex at birth and currently identify as male gender). One man identified as a trans man (assigned female sex at birth and currently identifies as male gender). The age of participants ranged from 26 to 47 years, with a mean age of 34.3 (SD = 7.3). Participants resided in seven states: Alabama, California, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Tennessee. All men identified as having primarily or solely same-sex romantic and sexual attractions (see Table 1).

Table 1.

Sociodemographic Characteristics (N = 10).

Pseudonym	Age, years	Gender identity	State of residence
Rashaun	35	Cisgender male	Alabama
Keon	30	Cisgender male	Tennessee
Lawrence	41	Cisgender male	California
Nate	26	Cisgender male	New York
Dustin	47	Cisgender male	California
Xander	41	Cisgender male	New York
Jared	34	Cisgender male	Maryland
Oliver	37	Cisgender male	Ohio
Sean	26	Cisgender male	Rhode Island
Rylee	26	Transgender male	New York

Eligibility Criteria and Recruitment Methods

Eligibility criteria for the SEE Study included the following: (a) being at least 18 years old, (b) self-identifying as a Black (meaning of African descent) man who is mainly attracted to and has sex with men, (c) reporting having a current spiritual identity and practice(s), (d) identifying as a male (meaning a person born with male genitals and currently identifying as male or was born with female genitals and currently identifying as male), (e) currently residing in the United States, (f) having reliable access to the Internet, and (g) having the (cognitive and technological) ability to engage in video conferencing. Based on prior research (Merchant et al., 2017), participants were recruited across the United States using two main methods: (a) Internet ads and posts on Twitter and Facebook pages with a large Black SM male readership and (b) face-to-face recruitment in social and community organizations that provided services to Black SM men. In each of these methods participants were presented with either digital or paper materials about the study. Digital materials included a clickable link that led directly to a Qualtrics survey questionnaire that assessed potential participants’ interest in the study. Paper recruitment materials had the link to the survey questionnaire printed on them.

The questionnaire required potential participants to indicate their interest in the study and provide their first name, initial of last name, phone number, and top three preferred times to be contacted via phone. The first author followed up with all potential participants who expressed interest in the study and provided their contact information. Upon contacting the participants, the first author screened each participant for eligibility and provided additional information about the study. Men who met inclusion criteria were invited to participate in the study and were given an appointment for the qualitative interview. Before participation in the interview, all men completed an informed consent document. This study received ethical approval from the pertinent institutional review board committee.

Qualitative Interview Procedures and Protocol Description

The first author contacted each participant at their agreed upon appointment time and conducted the individual semistructured interview using an interview protocol (developed by the first author) that was informed by extant literature related to Black spirituality (Chaney, 2008; Wheeler et al., 2002), Black psychology (Akbar, 2003; Myers, 1993), and spirituality-health outcomes research (Lassiter, Saleh, Grov, et al., 2017; Smallwood et al., 2015; Watkins et al., 2016). Participants responded to several questions that elicited the data for this study. These questions included the following: (a) What is your personal definition of spirituality, (b) How is this different from how others would define spirituality, (c) How is this different from how you would define religion, (d) What does your personal spirituality look like, (e) How is your personal spirituality different from the spirituality of others who are not Black SM men, (f) What does your higher power/sacred/Spirit/energizing energy look like, (g) What is your higher power/sacred/Spirit/energizing energy’s role in your life, and (h) What spiritual practices do you participate in? These questions do not constitute the entirety of the larger interview with participants. However, they do represent all questions that generated data for the current study. Each interview was conducted utilizing Zoom, a HIPPA-compliant web and video conferencing online platform that allows people to video chat and digitally record those videos. Interviews lasted 52 minutes on average (range = 32 minutes to 72 minutes).

Data Analysis

All interviews were transcribed verbatim by a professional transcription service. The transcripts were reviewed against the original recordings to verify accuracy of transcription. Next, guided by grounded theory (Charmaz, 2014), the authors simultaneously began the data analysis process by reviewing and coding the initial six transcripts. Each team member, working independently, used the constant comparative method to conduct line-by-line analysis of each transcript. Data were indexed and coded using open and axial coding (Corbin & Strauss, 2014). Open coding refers to the process by which the data are broken down into small, distinct units of meaning (Moghaddam, 2006). Axial coding refers to the process of building up to broader concepts of a phenomenon by refining and building connections between the units of meaning discovered during open coding (Moghaddam, 2006). After working independently to code the first six transcripts, all three authors discussed findings and developed a codebook for the remaining interviews. All codes that were included in the code book were agreed upon by all three authors. Any discrepancies in coding were resolved through discussion until reaching consensus. Upon finalizing a codebook, the research team coded the remaining transcripts utilizing the codebook. Then all three authors met again to verify consistency in coding. Again, any discrepancies in coding were resolved through discussion until reaching consensus. The research team found that saturation of codes was reached after the initial six transcripts (i.e., no new codes were emerging); however, we continued to code the remaining transcripts for verification purposes.

The QSR International’s NVivo 12 qualitative software (QSR International, 2018) was used to store and organize the coded data while themes were generated and organized theoretically to answer the research questions that are the focus of this study. Coauthors provided feedback on the appropriateness of themes which were later incorporated into the overall analysis by the first author. A list of the extracted themes and supporting quotes (without individual participants’ identifying information) were presented to participants to verify their appropriateness. This process, called member checks (Shenton, 2004), was done to ensure that participants’ words matched what they intended, to increase credibility of the data, and to determine the logic and appropriateness of themes. All feedback from the participants were incorporated into the analysis. This process resulted in four major themes emerging that were related to Black SM men’s culturally specific spirituality. The data analytic process was used because it has been found to be appropriate for helping researchers acquire new understandings of their data and build conceptual models based on the data (Charmaz, 2014).

It should be noted that the research team was comprised of three cisgender, Black SM men with doctoral degrees (one in clinical psychology [age range: 30-40 years], one in counseling psychology [age range 50-60 years], and one in public health [age range: 40-50 years]) and several years of experience in conducting psychological, health inequities, and community research with racial and SM populations. All research team members were aware of their potential biases as members of the community that was sampled in this study. Thus, we employed several strategies, described above, to ensure credibility of the data. Through consensus building and member checks, we attempted to ensure that our biases were not unduly influential to our analyses, results, and interpretation. However, consistent with an African-centered conceptualization of epistemology, we understand and appreciate that knowledge is a byproduct of both empirical and experiential models (Jamison, 2018). Thus, we interpreted our overall data analysis process to be aligned with Semaj’s (1996) cultural scientist methodology that emphasizes the integration of scientific inquiry with self and collective knowledge aimed toward Black liberation.

Results

Four themes emerged from the analysis: spiritual definition, specificity of Black SM men’s spirituality, physical manifestations of spirituality, and images of the sacred. The spiritual definition theme was comprised of four subthemes: (a) relationship with something greater than one’s self, (b) spirituality as part of the self, (c) guiding force, and (d) multidimensional spirituality. Overall, Black SM men described a spirituality that was comprised of universal, culturally specific, and representational components that informed how their spirituality was distinctly manifested in their lives. These components are understood to overlap in distinct ways for each individual. The conceptual model depicting the components that compose Black SM’s men’s spirituality is presented in Figure 1 and the quotes that exemplify the themes are presented below.

Figure 1.

Conceptual Model of Black SM Men’s Culturally Specific Spirituality.

Theme 1: Spiritual Definition

Participants described their spirituality as composed of four main universal characteristics. These characteristics are detailed as four subthemes.

Subtheme 1: Relationship with something greater than one’s self

All participants described their spirituality as connecting them with something greater than themselves. It was interpreted as being responsible for fostering an ever-growing interconnectivity with divine energy, other people, and the larger world and universes around them. This interconnectivity was deemed important to helping the men make a positive impact on the world. Nate reported, “My personal definition of spirituality is one’s relationship with their higher power—with their spiritual higher power, or whatever they identify with.” Sean shared,

. . . this is what I feel and perceive about myself, what I think in my values based on the world. How does this impact the world around me and other people around me? Is this good for them? Am I leaving good in the world? Am I being ethical in the world somehow, some way?

Dustin also saw spirituality as a force that connected him with something beyond himself. He shared, “My personal definition of spirituality is any process or method, framework, mantra or anything that you use to connect yourself with either a higher power, I guess the greater good of society or whatever you feel.”

All participants described bidirectional and extrasensory relational qualities of their spirituality. Xander described the quality of his spirituality as,

. . . connecting with the higher forces or energetic forces that make up not just the immediate world, but the universe. But having a connection to those forces that is two-way. I can speak to them. They can speak to me. But it’s not—it doesn’t center around the idea that we’re sort of king and peasant. Or master and servant. We’re ultimately trying to be more friends.

Rylee brought up an extrasensory quality of his spirituality, stating, “it’s a connection that I have. It’s a relationship that I have, either with myself or with an entity. For my beliefs, specifically, I explain it as a relationship. No seeing, no hearing, but all-feeling relationship.”

Subtheme 2: Spirituality as part of the self

Participants (n = 7) reported that their spirituality was a core part of them that was present regardless of whether or not they were attuned to its presence. Spirituality was not necessarily connected to a higher power that positioned itself above the men. Instead, spirituality was within and around them. Their spirituality was not solely tied to religious systems but had influences on their lives that were unique for each person. For example, Keon stated, “It’s more internal . . . this idea that you’re accountable to something higher . . . ” He continued, “I feel like everyone is inherently spiritual even if they think they are or aren’t. I guess it depends on how much they decide to connect with that side.” Similarly, Lawrence highlighted the importance of awareness of one’s spirituality in being able to enact it. He conceptualized spirituality as “an awareness that there is something greater than ourselves, and that greater than ourselves that is within us.”

Some participants noted that a belief in a deity or dominant force was not a required aspect of their spirituality. Rashaun shared, “ . . . it’s more so I see it as this is just how I just govern myself to fit into the world. It’s not in service or pursuit of someone else, a higher being or deity or something like that.” Sean stated, “[Spirituality] doesn’t require a god or some type of spirit force or power, besides your own. It’s something that, at least for me, it’s not theistic. It can include a god, but it doesn’t have to [be].” Many of the men expressed that spirituality is more of an individual experience that does not require adherence to religious doctrine but it also does not exclude religious principles. Again, Sean said, “Religion and spirituality can coincide . . . I feel like the spiritual aspect is the awareness in what you do with what religion presents to you.” Rylee highlighted the unique manifestations of spirituality for each person. He said,

I think spirituality is very individual so a lot of people that I encounter can feel very spiritual through doing physical things or even through hearing things that I’ve described that I don’t feel my spiritual relationship through but a lot of people that I know do it with nature or within themselves or whatever sings to them or tunes to them the most. It really is extremely individual. It’s not really something I can explain as generic.

For some participants (n = 4), the act of describing spirituality proved difficult but they maintained that spirituality was something that was linked to who they were as human beings. Jared stated, “It’s just something that I just know just to be, basically. I really don’t describe it.” Sean also shared, “My definition of spirituality would be a sense of who a person is and how they relate to themselves and the world around them.”

Subtheme 3: Guiding force

Participants (n = 6) believed that their spirituality was a guiding force in their lives setting parameters for how they should present themselves and make decisions related to values, morals, and purpose. Oliver’s comments illustrate this theme. He described his spirituality in this way:

It’s kind of like a spiritual being. [It] helps guide me in the decisions that I . . . make in my life. Something that keeps me centered . . . it just allows me to have a good sense of balance.

Dustin shared, “It’s . . . like a guiding framework in your life, . . . that gives you purpose or meaning in your life.” Keon noted that this guidance is often experienced as being ordered and structured toward a particular purpose. He reported, “I feel like . . . some things aren’t coincidental and some things have a purpose. So I see signs that some things didn’t just happen by chance.” Rashaun described the principled quality of his spirituality when he said,

. . . it’s more so of just kind of how I’ve guided myself through life. It’s more on what type of things do I value. I value being a good person, being a moral person, treating other people well. And the things that we take off from those basic religious beliefs that we grew up on—but for me it’s about practicing those and not necessarily ascribing it to someone, God or someone bigger than me in that sense.

He continued,

I think [spirituality] means just this thing I fall back on . . . it’s when times are rough I really think that’s what I fall back on. It’s just a source of strength, possibly, or source of resiliency, besides being kind of the way I guide my life.

Keon reported that he experiences his spirituality as, “ . . . being guided or we’re accountable to something that’s higher that we see in ordinary.” This guidance can be experienced as structured but caring. Jared stated that he experiences the guidance of his spirituality as “being loving and kind, yet stern . . . he’s almost like any parent.”

Subtheme 4: Multidimensional spirituality

Spirituality was often conceptualized as not only being a phenomenon that had an influence on one’s present life but it was multidimensional existing before, during, and after participants’ current lifetimes. Some men in this sample described spirituality as being connected to other unseen realities that are all interconnected and purpose-driven. Rashaun stated that he perceives this relationship with the sacred as, “how [I] relate to the spiritual realm and how their beliefs, their values, what they think about kind of the afterlife.” Keon shared that his understanding of spirituality meant that he was “ . . . not just in this world, but there’s a reason why we do the things that we do and there is something after what we’re currently in.”

Theme 2: Specificity of Black SM Men’s Spirituality

All participants described components of their spirituality that they believed made it unique from how others who were not Black SM men understood spirituality. These components included a connection with one’s ancestors and intergenerational spiritual forces, access to authenticating energies that allowed them to understand pleasure, unification on masculine and feminine energies, and the influence of oppressive forces of shaping spirituality. Some participants noted the role of their ancestors and their ancestors’ experiences in their lives and the interplay with their spirituality. Xander illustrated this when he shared,

I’ve really focused . . . on making connection with ancestors. And that is not just the immediate ancestors, but also the distant ancestors. And making connection to that energy. And that’s a multitude of relationships that’s going on there.

Lawrence also shared,

. . . so the conversation I have had with people in reference to what I do compared to what other people do, there is a brother that I know who is White, and straight. He feels that the fact that I will go to the center of a bridge in the middle of the night, when I lived in Brooklyn, and kind of meditate or pray, his feeling was that really didn’t reverence God. He can understand why I may have done it was because of my ancestral background . . .

Oliver added more detail when he connected his ancestors’ experiences with his sense of wholeness and authenticity. He stated,

I think part of that has to do with the fact that I think we’ve been through so much in our lives. Maybe not personally, but definitely our ancestors. I think it goes down from generation to generation and we feel that energy and we see what it may have been like for them. And because of that, we pick that up and it just becomes a part of us. It becomes like, okay, we need to be ourselves because for so long we were told that we could not be ourselves. We were told that, ‘No, you can’t do this. You can’t do this.’ All these negative things.

Oliver continued:

Typically as Black same-gender-loving men, when we become our true self, we’re just like, “Okay, this is who we are and it’s up to you to accept it.” It’s not my place to make you feel comfortable. I want to be me. And I think that’s part of it. I think it starts from our generations, from our ancestors. I think that, even though they may not be alive, but their spirit is with us. I think we feel that and it goes from generation to generation. I think that’s how we wind up evolving.

Xander shared that he believes that Black SM men’s spirituality is linked to pleasure and creative energy in a way that non-Black SM male people’s spirituality is not. He reported,

. . . It is part of the energy of nature in the principle that our spirituality is not necessarily about the aspect of procreation. Sometimes, it’s much more about sustainment of the world. That our energy is about then also releasing and knowing where pleasure lies.

He continued stating that:

there’s energies that we access that aren’t accessed in the same way heterosexuals are. And, nine times out of 10, that heterosexual energy is going to go into creating new life. . . . And so, it was announced that there was a set—a couple there—who were trying to get pregnant. At which point, because the four gay men were there, they each broke away from the circle, went to the maypole. Two of them held, one measured, another cut. And then they started twining the strands together from the maypole. And the presented it to the couple. A few months later, they were pregnant. The gay men, as it was described, could access that energy without it being used by them. . . . we can be that unifying energy between the two.

Rylee expressed that his experiences of oppression contributed to him being more sensitive to spirituality. He disclosed,

I’m Black, I’m trans, I come off as femme and queer and gay, so I fall into the category of the rejected and of the oppressed and that has given me such a different and more vulnerable, intimate understanding of what my spirituality meant, . . . what love meant, what being kind and courteous and patient meant. It opens doors to things that, if I were a White, heteronormative, cis-person, I would have never understood groups of people, diverse groups of people that, to any extent, I wouldn’t understand anything, I’m pretty sure.

Theme 3: Physical Manifestations of Spirituality

This theme is related to Subtheme 3 (i.e., guiding force) in that the physical manifestations (or behaviors) of the participants’ spirituality are a direct reflection of the guiding framework provided by their spirituality. Participants (n = 10) not only described their definitions of spirituality but also how it was physically manifested in their lives. Most participants (n = 9) reported that they experienced their spirituality in all aspects of their lives. These aspects took form in individual behaviors and deeds with others in both physical and digital spaces. Lawrence elaborated,

My ability to, let’s say, go into a park and be near nature, like water, and literally have this very peaceful centering process that allows me to feel as though I am connected to something beyond my physical form. Another way is being able to see the divine in all things: if I’m looking up at the sky, just marveling at the fact of how the clouds move and how the sky is a set color at a certain time, how the sun sits in a certain place, and be able to reverence the power of the divine in that, or looking at some trees and looking at the uniqueness of the color and the shape, or looking at the snow when it falls. The same exact thing, realizing that there is this divine essence to it, and if I can focus, meditate and center myself, I can find inner peace. I can find calmness. I can find clarity if I just take the time to invest in it. So my practice is normally finding ways to center myself that’s not technically religious or Christian, but it allows me to connect to the divine.

Dustin shared,

I firmly believe that people and like everything in the world is, like, a representation of God, like, I think it is kinda like God revealing themselves to you. Yeah, I think that’s as far as I’ve come in, like, my personal spiritual practice but I believe in, like, all paths to God or to the gods or to the universe or however that may look for people.

Rylee also believed that his spirituality was intertwined with all his actions when he disclosed,

the fact that the work that I do and the work that I want to do is a reflection of my spirituality and of my beliefs and of the purpose I believe of why I’m here, why I exist, why I go through the trials that I go through. My spirituality is a huge, probably 99 percent of the reason why I choose to do any of the activities that I do.

Some participants (n = 3) highlighted the positive effects their spirituality had on their self-presentation and interpersonal interactions. Nate reported that, “you will probably hear my conversations. My conversations are always very uplifting. It’s always praising God, and things of that nature. That’s what would give you a good scope of who I am.” Jared related his spirituality to his appearance and speech when he said,

I don’t carry myself as the normal status quo. I don’t sag my pants. I don’t have my behind hanging out. I don’t use a lot of profanity. . . . As far as how I carry myself, I just carry myself in a respectable manner.

Oliver also noted the effect of spirituality on his conversation when he shared,

You would be able to see . . . from the way I speak and how I approach things and how I present things, that it comes more from a healing place. . . . It’s just this caring, feeling, loving nature that . . . comes out whenever I speak.

Rylee described how spirituality is inherent in all people and social interactions when he stated, “I believe that whether you believe in something or not, even the thought of not believing in something is kind of a belief within itself. So I feel that everyone is connected through that . . . ”

Spirituality was often credited with helping participants act with compassion toward others. Rashaun stated,

I’m trying to be warm, . . . genuine, . . . kind . . . going out of my way to do something for someone even if they didn’t ask me to do that. I would say that would be how someone would observe my sense of spirituality.

Jared said, “It could just me just being polite. It could be me forgiving someone. It could be me going up to someone who other people shun away from.” Oliver also shared,

I am not putting out the energy of judgment or negativity or anything like that. There’s something about me that brings out a loving energy and positive energy for people to be comfortable around me no matter what. Even if you’re from a distance, you’ll be able to see, “Oh, wow, that guy has this energy, uplifting energy, that I like to be around.”

Nate reported that his spirituality also manifested in digital social spaces. He disclosed, “I praise God on Facebook, on Instagram, and all that. My posts [are] usually—50% of my posts since I been back home have been about God, or what God has done for me.”

All participants reported that they engaged in a variety of practices as part of their spiritual lives. These practices included traditional religious expressions such as prayer and listening to spiritual music. For example, Keon said,

I usually see it as conversations with myself, but then . . . I guess a way of praying, ‘cause I can’t remember the last time I prayed. But I find myself often talking out loud and trying to figure this stuff out loud.

Music was also a major expression of spirituality. Lawrence shared,

. . . people tell us, “Well, you’re male, you should do this. You’re female, you should do this. You’re tall, you should do this. You’re black, you should do this. You’re White, you should do this. Oh, you’re straight. You definitely should do this.” But the music allowed for none of that to matter, that we’re able just to kind of just be. I think, for me, that was almost this form of worship.

Jared shared, “It was through me consistently going to church, talking about God, playing gospel music, him finding me reading my Bible, him finding me looking at different things on TV as far as spirituality.” Others (n = 5) discussed engaging in a range of nontraditional spiritual activities. For example, using meditation and mindfulness in combination and separately. Sean reported, “Well, I’m into mindfulness, so I don’t do necessarily Buddhist meditation. It’s just being mindful.” Some participants discussed how their physical and nutritional maintenance was a part of their spirituality. Dustin and Rylee identified “voguing” and “yoga,” respectively, as spiritual movement practices. Jared reported,

I still have to do what I have to do to keep my natural body healthy. Eat right, proper nutrition, water, things of that nature. . . . There’s no point in me talking about some, “I love God, and he’s the best friend that I ever had,” and I’m not eating and I’m around here fainting and passing out.

Theme 4: Images of the Sacred

Participants (n = 10) reported imagining the sacred in many different forms. For many of them this image had evolved from a more material presentation to something more energetic. These energetic images were sometimes singular, sometimes plural. The images were sometimes concrete or sometimes vague or nonspecific. When asked how he viewed the sacred, Lawrence stated,

Formless, boundless, and limitless, because I realize what I thought when I didn’t care about myself, God was White and male. Then, when I began to keep thinking and questioning stuff, I got to the point of, “Well, we’re all great in God’s image.” Then I’m like, “Wait. How is a woman a woman, and how is she White and they Black, and they Asian? How is all of that if we’re all created in the likeness and the image of the divine?” That would mean the divine is formless and boundless, and can be everything and anything all at the same time. That construct that God has to be male and has to be White, I don’t have that anymore. It’s a formless entity that kind of is present.

Dustin highlighted the genderlessness and multiplicity of the sacred when he reported,

. . . if I was to call one of my friends right now, most of their references will be to, like, their Christian God, capital “G” who is male-gendered. I think like my conceptualization of God, with a capital “G,” is genderless, . . . and then even here lately I’ve been beginning to think that there’re are, like, numerous gods.

A few participants (n = 2) did not have a definitive image of the sacred and highlighted the experiential component of their spirituality. Dustin shared, “I think today my image of God if anything is, like, imageless. For me what I’m finding these days is I don’t necessarily see God but I experience God.” Nate said,

I do not know what God look like. I don’t know if God is a spirit. I don’t know if God is a being. I don’t know what God is. I don’t ever try to picture God because I don’t know if God is a woman, a man, all things—if God is asexual. I don’t know none of that . . . So, I just see the universe and I just imagine God. I don’t imagine anything too much because I refuse to believe in that image of Jesus that they put out there . . .

Discussion

The aim of this qualitative study was to understand how Black SM men defined spirituality and how it was unique to them. Black SM men in this study described their spirituality as including universal, culturally specific, and representational components. As depicted in Figure 1, the universal components included understanding their spirituality as (a) relationship with something greater than themselves, (b) part of the themselves, (c) a guiding force in their lives, and (d) multidimensional in nature. The culturally specific components of their spirituality were identified as being (a) an energetic union of masculine and feminine energy within their physical body, (b) connected to their ancestors, (c) an integration of the divine and the sensual, and (d) the connection of spirituality to intersectional oppression. These findings suggest that Black SM men’s spirituality is distinct in its integration of universal aspects of spirituality with culturally specific spiritual characteristics that are directly shaped by their lived experiences.

Black SM men’s spirituality was visualized and physically expressed in both common and unique ways. The sacred was visually perceived in nontraditional ways with some men describing an energetic, genderless divine form. Some mentioned that the image of the sacred took multiple forms in their minds, while others had difficulty visualizing the divine. Oftentimes spirituality was physically enacted through prayer, music, dance, meditation, and mindfulness. Among our sample, social media are also noted as a space where men expressed their spirituality through sharing their spiritual experiences and beliefs with their social networks. This finding supports other researchers’ reports of Black SM men’s uses of social media in the cultivation of their spirituality (Barnes & Hollingsworth, 2018). Overall, the spirituality of the men in our study was manifested in physical and digital spaces in ways that were both individual and communal. Figure 1 depicts the overlapping and distinct universal, culturally specific, and representational components of Black SM men’s culturally specific spirituality.

The Black SM men in this study described a spirituality that was consistent with a radical Black psychological framework. Akbar (2003, p. 45) wrote,

The [African worldview] paradigm suggests that the ideal or model human being should be those people who represent consistent and harmonious relationships with nature. It adopts the basic ontological position of the Africentric worldview “I am because we are” [Mbiti, 1970; Nobles, 1980]. It also views spirituality as being endemic to the human make-up . . .

Black SM men’s conceptualization of themselves as embodying an inherent and internal spirituality that connects them with all other energetic forces in the universe and guides their behavior in perpetuity aligns with Akbar’s (2003) African worldview. While grounded in this Black psychological framework, Black SM men’s conceptualizations of spirituality move beyond traditional narratives of Black psychology and incorporate distinct experiences of sexual and gender identities (Greene, 2009). When examining Black SM men’s spirituality and the enactment of that spirituality in their lives alongside the foundational tenets of Black psychology, it would seem that there is a congruence, not disharmony.

Research and Clinical Implications

The findings of this study have several implications for future research and clinical work with Black SM men. First, this study contributes to a growing body of literature that identifies the importance of spirituality for Black SM men (Foster et al., 2011; Jeffries et al., 2008). However, further validation of the current findings is needed. Future studies might find it beneficial to explore how the culturally specific spirituality, described in this study, is related to mental and physical health and coping with oppression. There is also a need to develop assessment methods to understand the degree to which Black SM men embody culturally specific aspects of spirituality (i.e., ancestral link, pleasure, unification of masculine and feminine energies, and use of spirituality to navigate intersectional oppressive forces). Developing and psychometrically validating a culturally specific spirituality scale based on the findings in this study is one way researchers might assess culturally specific spirituality. Such a scale could be used in future quantitative research with larger groups of Black SM men to explore the associations between levels of culturally specific spirituality and health outcomes. Additionally, future research should also explore the specifics of how spirituality is expressed and shared on social media and how it might be cultivated to foster better health outcomes for Black SM men (Barnes & Hollingsworth, 2018). This type of culturally tailored research has the potential to help investigators become more nuanced in psychological measurement, evaluation, and intervention development. Researchers may also find it beneficial to explore culturally specific spirituality among other distinct groups of Black SM people (e.g., Black SM women).

Clinicians who provide mental health services to Black SM men need to be aware of the role culturally specific spirituality might play in these men’s lives. Prior authors (Lassiter & Parsons, 2016) have encouraged mental health providers to educate themselves about the interplay of religion and spirituality with Black SM men’s psychological realities and other lived experiences. We reiterate this suggestion and call attention to the need for mental health providers to be methodical and individual in their assessments. Providers should ask their clients about spirituality across several sessions and in multiple forms (e.g., verbally and on intake forms) as well as avoid assuming clients will express their spirituality in mainstream (Eurocentric or heterosexual) ways. Of course, any discussion about spirituality and its relationship to the client’s health should be led by the client. However, providers may use the information in this article to guide their questions and case conceptualizations. The culturally specific spirituality described in this study may also be a possible option that providers could explore with their clients who have expressed negative experiences with traditional religious settings or mainstream conceptualizations of spirituality. This culturally specific spirituality may be more appealing to Black SM men who desire a connection with the sacred that also affirms their sexual and gender diversity as well as their racial heritage.

Toward an Intersectional Black Psychology

This study represents a move toward a more intersectional Black psychology. Intersectional Black Psychology is the study of human psychology that is grounded in the value systems of ancient African civilizations that center spirituality, interconnectivity, and wholeness. It fully integrates the unique strengths and challenges of living life with multiple intersecting social identities (e.g., race, sexual orientation, gender) that are marginalized by macro-level systems of oppression (e.g., imperialism, capitalism, White supremacy, heterosexism, ableism, patriarchy; Greene, 2011). While Intersectional Black Psychology fully recognizes the role of intersectional oppression in the lives of multiply marginalized groups, it does not center its analytic framework solely on these experiences and effects of oppression. Additionally, it is not so much concerned with oppressors’ beliefs and behaviors but more so attuned to how people thrive and transcend oppressive experiences and oppressed identities to embody an Afrocentric humanity. This Afrocentric humanity is not about superiority of people of African descent and it is not exclusive to them. However, those who embody an Afrocentric humanity understand that what it means to be human is to be the physical manifestation of the sacred or spirit (Myers, 1993). This conceptualization of humanity is appropriate for anyone who “choose[s] to participate in [a] human culture of mutual respect and spiritual consciousness” (Akbar, 2003, p. 45). Black SM men’s culturally specific spirituality is consistent with an Intersectional Black Psychology.

An embrace and embodiment of the culturally specific spirituality as detailed in this study is a liberatory act. This culturally specific spirituality is a moving away from an accommodationist stance that requests inclusion in mainstream Black religious spaces or White SM organizations. It is also an abandonment of an adaptation approach that seeks to culturally modify a mainstream notion of spirituality. Black SM men who forge their own spirituality represent a movement toward simultaneously centering self and community emphasizing holism in all things. The ultimate goal being manifestation of the sacred.

Limitations

We recognize that there are several limitations that should be considered. First, statements about causation should be avoided given the qualitative nature of this study. The analyses reported in this study were used to describe and develop an initial conceptual model of Black SM men’s culturally specific spirituality. The findings were not meant to serve as evidence for hypothesis testing. Second, our sample size was small and although we did reach saturation in our themes, they should be replicated in other samples. Third, we wanted to include people who identified their gender as male and who were same-sex attracted, regardless of the sex they were assigned at birth. However, due to sampling issues we were only able to recruit one Black transgender man who was also same-sex attracted. We chose to include his voice, although he was the lone transgender male participant, given that he met the other criteria for inclusion and spoke specifically to the experience of Black SM men. We avoided any analyses that emphasized transgender experience and focused on the intersections of male gender, race, and sexual orientation because we did not want to overgeneralize the experiences of one transgender man to all transgender men. However, we recognize the importance of including transgender men’s voices in studies about men. Thus, the authors encourage future studies that focus on the intersection of race, sexual orientation, and male gender to employ strategies to include more Black transgender SM men to ensure the appropriateness of the findings from this research for that group. Additionally, participants shared many similar sociodemographic characteristics (i.e., race, sexual orientation, saliency of spirituality). Thus, readers should avoid generalizing these results to other groups dissimilar to the sample described in this study. We recognize that we collected minimal sociodemographic information to reduce participant burden. Future research in this area might find it beneficial to collect information on more characteristics such as income and education, as these things could provide more context for participants’ ideas. While the use of video technology is becoming more widespread in empirical research (Sedgwick & Spiers, 2009), we recognize that interviewing participants via video conferencing may have affected their responses in ways that we were unable to anticipate. For example, interviewing participants remotely may constitute a barrier in rapport building between the interviewer and participant. Participants may have felt less comfortable sharing certain types of information with the interviewer given the physical distance between them. However, based on prior research (Yancey et al., 2006), the interviewer in this study employed several strategies (i.e., revealing his identity as a Black SM male, underscoring the collaborative, semi-formal nature of the interview) to mitigate participants’ potential concerns.

Conclusion

This research represents an attempt at constructing a formative understanding of Black SM men’s spirituality that is framed within African and African Diaspora conceptual frameworks and scholarship. Black SM men’s spirituality is culturally specific in the ways in which it is conceptualized and utilized in their lives. This spirituality connects them with something greater than themselves, is a core part of who they are, serves as a guiding force in their lives, and develops across multiple dimensions of existence (i.e., before-life, earth-life, after-life). Their spirituality incorporates elements of traditional religious doctrine and universal notions of spirituality. However, it also moves beyond those mainstream dimensions through its connection to a culturally specific conceptualization of spirituality and an embrace of the sacred nature of sexual and gender diversity. Black SM men’s culturally specific spirituality is ripe for further exploration. We hope that this research inspires other researchers to continue to move beyond studies that focus solely on pathological and individual risk behaviors (e.g., HIV and sexual risks, drug use, biomedical prevention strategies) and begin to use empirical methods to query the lives of Black SM communities about issues of self-definition and self-determination outside of Eurocentric norms.

Footnotes

Authors’ Note

Leo Wilton is also affiliated with University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Jonathan Mathias Lassiter

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