"I Can’t Be Racist, I’m Gay”: Exploring Queer White Men’s Views on Race and Racism
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Abstract
In society and on college campuses, whiteness has staked a claim as the default race for queerness. This has manifested in queer and trans people of color feeling like outsiders who must resist hegemonic whiteness at personal and institutional levels. This qualitative study explores how queer white men negotiate their relationship to race and racism on and off their campuses. These men oscillate between normalizing whiteness, working through whiteness, and working with their whiteness. Implications for improving campus climate and the experiences of queer and trans people of color (QTPOC) students, staff, and faculty are discussed.
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