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Rising and Surviving: A Conceptual Model of Active Coping Among Black Lesbians

LISA BOWLEG MELYNDA L. CRAIG University of Rhode Island GARY BURKHOLDER Walden University

This study tested a conceptual model of active coping among a predominantly middleclass sample (N = 92) of Black lesbians (ages 18 to 68) attending a Black lesbian retreat. F. B. Tyler’s (1978) active coping dimension of psychosocial competence and L. P. Anderson, C. L. Eaddy, and E. A. Williams’s (1990) psychosocial competence model for Black Americans emphasizing the role of individual and environmental factors provided the theoretical framework for the study. A theoretical model was developed to examine whether internal (self-esteem, race and lesbian identification) and external (social support, perceived available lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered resources) factors predicted active coping. Results confirmed that the model of internal and external factors was a statistically significant predictor of active coping. • Black lesbians • active coping • multiple minority stress • positive psychology

Maya Angelou (1994, p. 164), in her classic poem Still I Rise, extols the resilience of African American women: “Out of the huts of history’s shame. I rise. Up from a past that’s

rotted in pain. I rise. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear. I rise. Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear. I rise.” Echoing this theme, Black lesbian poet Pat Parker’s

• Lisa Bowleg and Melynda L. Craig, Department of Psychology, University of Rhode Island; Gary Burkholder, School of Psychology, Walden University. We are grateful for the support of our research assistants Amy Black, Kelly Brooks, Patricia DosSantos, Jennifer Huang, Donna Taraborelli, and Michelle O’Connor. We also appreciate the invaluable suggestions and support that Carol Reisen, Department of Psychology, The George Washington University, provided to improve the final draft of the article. Last, but not least, we are especially grateful to United Lesbians of African Heritage and the participants of this study who shared their trust with us. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Lisa Bowleg, Department of Psychology, University of Rhode Island, 10 Chafee Road, Kingston, RI 02881-0808. E-mail: [email protected] Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology Vol. 10, No. 3, 229–240

Copyright 2004 by the Educational Publishing Foundation 1099-9809/04/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/1099-9809.10.3.229 229


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(1978, p. 93) poem Movement in Black celebrates the indomitable spirit of Black women and their myriad contributions to American life, ending with the refrain: “I am the Black woman. I am a survivor. I am a survivor. I am a survivor. I am a survivor. I am a survivor. Movement in Black.” Indeed, African American women writers such as Angelou and Parker have long known and celebrated a phenomenon that most mainstream psychological theory and research have been remarkably slow to embrace: The majority of Black1 women (and men), despite the deleterious impact of racial oppression, demonstrate positive mental health (Anderson, Eaddy, & Williams, 1990; Franklin & Jackson, 1990). Moreover, rather than merely reacting to stressors such as those imposed by oppression, many Black people cope actively and competently in ways that facilitate good outcomes (Tyler, 1978). In a welcome departure from psychology’s historic focus on pathology, a burgeoning field of psychology now focuses on positive life experiences (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). As with the wellnessoriented psychological models of previous years however, many contemporary models claim a universal appeal while virtually ignoring the sociocultural context of life for Black Americans (Ramseur, 1991; Tyler, Brome, & Williams, 1991). Sociocultural factors and stressors such as racism and poverty are, however, central rather than peripheral to the lives of most African Americans (Clark, Anderson, Clark, & Williams, 1999; Harrell, 2000; Klonoff, Landrine, & Ullman, 1999). Although the psychological literature has yielded a variety of empirical support for specific aspects of positive psychological functioning among African Americans (e.g., self-esteem, positive racial identity), there remains a dearth of theories or conceptual models relevant to the positive mental health of African Americans in general (Anderson et al., 1990; Franklin & Jackson, 1990; Ramseur, 1991) and specific groups of Blacks such as lesbians in particular. One concept, triple jeopardy, describes the

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notion that lesbians of color are oppressed by virtue of their sex, ethnicity, and sexual identity2 (Greene, 1995; Zuna Institute, 2001). The minority stressor perspective (see Moritsugu & Sue, 1983) advances that factors such as racism, sexism, or heterosexism have a deleterious impact on the psychological and physical health for, respectively, African Americans (see Clark et al., 1999; Myers, Lewis, & Parker-Dominguez, 2003; Williams, 1999); women (Klonoff, Landrine, & Campbell, 2000); and lesbian, gay, and bisexual people (Brooks, 1981; DiPlacido, 1998; Meyer, 1995). With the exception of a quantitative study of depressive distress among Black women and men with same-sex partners (Cochran & Mays, 1994) and a recent qualitative study with Black lesbians, however (Bowleg, Huang, Brooks, Black, & Burkholder, 2003), we are aware of no empirical research that has examined the issue of minority stress among people with multiple oppressed identities such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people of color. Moreover, the notion that those with multiple oppressed identities may, in spite of that stress, exhibit positive mental health functioning remains the subject of virtually no psychological theory or research (Greene, 1994). In advocating for a theory of positive mental health among African Americans, Anderson et al. (1990) emphasized psychosocial competence. Psychosocial competence is characterized by a person’s active quest for “personal effectiveness and mastery over [her or his] environment, not just the reduction of tension or the satisfaction of drives” (Tyler et al., 1991, pp. 30–31).

1 We use the term Black to describe the sociopolitical experiences of people of African descent who reside in the United States regardless of ethnicity (e.g., Latina, African American, Caribbean). 2 We use the term sexual identity rather than sexual orientation to reflect the socially constructed nature of sexuality. The term sexual orientation connotes that one’s sexuality is essential and stable rather than influenced by sociohistorical context and language.


SPECIAL ISSUE: ACTIVE COPING AMONG BLACK LESBIANS Specifically, psychosocially competent individuals possess certain psychosocial characteristics (e.g., self-efficacy, self-esteem) as well as an adeptness for negotiating the vicissitudes of their environments. Although the psychosocial competence construct consists of three components (i.e., coping, trust, and self-efficacy; Tyler, 1978), our study highlights the active coping component. Active coping describes a coping orientation that emphasizes proactive responses to stressful life events in a manner that facilitates positive outcomes (Tyler, 1978). Active coping transcends mere passive reactions to stress. We designed this study to examine active coping among a sample of Black lesbians. Pursuant to Anderson et al.’s (1990) psychosocial competence model for Black Americans that emphasizes both environmental and individual factors, we developed a theoretical model to examine whether internal (i.e., self-esteem, race identification, and lesbian group identification) and external (i.e., social support, perceived available LGBT resources) factors predicted active coping.

Actively Coping With Sexism, Racism, and Heterosexism: Black Lesbians in Sociocultural Context Historically, psychological theories have focused solely on individual-level factors with little or no consideration of the impact of sociocultural context on human behavior and experiences. Sociocultural context, however, is critical for understanding the experiences of historically oppressed groups such as Black lesbian and bisexual women. Black lesbian and bisexual women share with Black heterosexual women the experiences of race, class, and sex/gender oppression. Black lesbians and bisexual women also experience heterosexism from the larger society as well as Black communities. Yet, theory and research on Black lesbians in

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psychology remain, as Greene (2000), who has written prolifically about Black lesbians has opined, “less than a footnote to the footnote [of Black women in American psychology]” (p. 82). Indeed, we are aware of only eight empirical studies that have focused exclusively on Black lesbian or bisexual women (Bowleg et al., 2003; Cochran & Mays, 1988; Hall & Greene, 2002; Mays & Cochran, 1988; Mays, Cochran, & Rhue, 1993) or have included Black lesbians as participants in significant numbers (Battle, Cohen, Warren, Fergerson, & Audam, 2002; Cochran & Mays, 1994; Peplau, Cochran, & Mays, 1997). The pervasive and deleterious effects of racism on the lives of Black people (e.g., Clark et al., 1999; Williams, 1999), heterosexism on the lives of predominantly White LGBT populations (Brooks, 1981; DiPlacido, 1998; Meyer, 1995), and sexism in the lives of a multiethnic sample of women (Klonoff & Landrine, 1995) have been well documented in the social science literature. By contrast, theory and research on the multidimensional effects of oppression remains in its infancy (Allison, 1998; Landrine, Klonoff, Alcaraz, Scott, & Wilkins, 1995). Accordingly, Black lesbians who face multiple stressors due to racism, heterosexism, and sexism are an ideal population in which to examine active coping.

The Individual and Her Environment: A Conceptual Model of Active Coping Among Black Lesbians Tyler’s (1978) focus on active coping as one dimension of psychosocial competence, combined with Anderson et al.’s (1990) conceptualization of psychosocial competence as individuals’ ability to interact and function effectively with their environments, provides the theoretical framework for our study. Anderson et al.’s model is especially relevant to our research because it is focused specifically on the lives of Black people.


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Moreover, we are aware of no alternative models specific to the experiences of women or LGBT people. Anderson et al.’s model emphasizes a synthesis of sociocultural realities, such as those imposed by factors such as race, culture and socioeconomic status, as well as psychological dimensions. These theorists posit that two factors influence psychosocial competence among Black Americans: internal factors and familial and sociocultural factors (which we hereby term external factors for conceptual simplicity). Internal factors refer to psychosocial factors intrinsic to the individual, such as perceptions of the environment, communication and problemsolving skills, coping strategies, self-esteem, and locus of control. External factors include a host of familial and sociocultural factors beyond the level of individual functioning, such as the role of the Black family as a buffer against stress, an extended social support network of family members and friends, and the Black church and other social institutions. Our adaptation of Anderson et al.’s (1990) model focuses on three internal factors (self-esteem, lesbian identification, and race3 group identification) and two external factors (social support and perceived available LGBT resources). The external factors in our model differ from those in the original model. Whereas Anderson et al. stressed the importance of the Black family, church, and other social institutions in their model, ours excludes these factors. Although Black families and Black churches play an important role in the lives of many Black LGBTs with regard to social support in general, and buffering racism in particular, the propensity for many Black LGBTs to report their families and Black churches as heterosexist is a recurrent theme in much of the Black LGBT literature (see Clarke, 1983; Greene, 1995; Griffin, 2000; Zuna Institute, 2001). Thus, our model includes social support from family and friendship networks, lesbian and race identification, and social institutions supportive of LGBTs in general, as well as Black LGBTs in particular. Moreover, informed by “the venerable notion that hu-

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man behavior is a function of people in interaction with their environment” (Watts & Serrano-Garcia, 2003, p. 73), a critical focus in our adapted model is the combination of internal factors with external ones. Specifically, we wanted to investigate the extent to which internal factors (i.e., self-esteem, race and lesbian group identification) and external factors (i.e., social support and perceived available LGBT resources) predict active coping. The study’s conceptual model is presented in Figure 1. The internal factor part of the model is premised on Anderson et al.’s (1990) theorizing about the positive effects of internal psychosocial variables such as self-esteem, as well as a vast social identity literature that emphasizes the importance of social category membership and the personal meanings and motivations associated with that membership (Deaux, 1992; Deaux, Reid, Mizrahi, & Cotting, 1999). The external factor part of the model is premised on (a) Anderson et al.’s theorizing about the beneficial effects of social support for Blacks and an extensive theoretical and empirical literature base documenting the mediating effects of social support on stress (see Cohen, Underwood, & Gottlieb, 2000; Taylor, Chatters, Hardison, & Riley, 2001) and (b) our sample-relevant substitution of perceived LGBT resources for the Black family and Black church in Anderson et al.’s conceptualization of their model. We hypothesized that both internal factors (i.e., selfesteem, race and lesbian group identification) and external factors (i.e., social support,

3

Historically, social scientists have used the term race to denote phenotypic characteristics such as skin color or hair texture. The term is at best quasi-biological, however, because one’s phenotype “reveals virtually nothing about [one’s] genotype” (Helms, 1994, p. 297). In this article, we use the term race to denote the collective sociopolitical history of racial oppression that African Americans in particular, and Blacks in general, have experienced in the United States. We do not intend to infer that the term race reflects some essentialist or biological reality.


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Figure 1. Conceptual model of the predictive effects of internal factors and external factors on the active coping of Black lesbians. LGBT = lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.

perceived available LGBT resources) would predict active coping.

Method Participants Participants (N = 92) ranged in age from 18 to 68 years (M = 38.41, SD = 9.17). Most of the sample (92.4%) identified as Black/ African American, 3.3% identified as biracial or multiracial (e.g., Black/Native American/White/Chinese), 2.2% identified as other (i.e., West Indian and Black Indian), and 1 participant (2.1%) did not identify her ethnicity. The sample was highly educated, with 27.2% reporting a graduate or professional degree and 29.3% reporting a college degree. The minimum level of education was some high school, reported by 2.2% of the participants. Personal annual incomes ranged from less than $5,000 to $100,000 or more (M = $45,137, SD = $21,856, based on a midpoint estimate for each income category). Most of the respondents identified as lesbian (64.1%), 10.9% identified as gay, 3.3% identified as bisexual, 3.3% identified as queer, 12.0% identified as other, and 6.4% did not self-identify. Most

of the participants were in same-sex committed relationships (51.1%); 30.4% were single, not dating; and 14.1% were dating; 1 woman described her relationship as “other”; another did not respond. One third of the sample reported a previous heterosexual marriage (32.6%); 34.8% reported that they had children.

Procedure The study was conducted at Sistahfest, an annual weekend retreat for Black lesbians in southern California. Flyers posted around the retreat site invited prospective participants to complete an anonymous questionnaire about the experiences of Black lesbians. Additionally, Lisa Bowleg, who was stationed at a table near the retreat’s registration area, invited participants to complete the anonymous self-administered questionnaire. Informed-consent materials and questionnaires were disseminated to prospective participants in a manila envelope. Instructions therein directed participants to return the completed questionnaires in a provided sealed envelope to protect confidentiality.

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Measures: Internal Factors SELF-ESTEEM. We used the Rosenberg (1965) Self-Esteem Scale, a 10-item global measure of self-esteem (Cronbach’s ␣ = .85 in this sample). Respondents rated their agreement with each item on a 4-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree), with scores ranging from 10 to 40. Sample items include “On the whole, I am satisfied with myself” and “I take a positive attitude towards myself.” RACE IDENTIFICATION MEASURE. Five items measured respondents’ group identification with Black social identities (Cronbachs ␣ = .62). Respondents rated their agreement with each item on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). Sample items included “It is more important for me to participate in activities in the Black community than activities in the gay, lesbian, and bisexual community” and “Racism is a much more serious issue in my life than homophobia.” LGBT SOCIAL IDENTIFICATION MEASURE. Two items relevant to sexual identity were created to measure lesbian or bisexual identity. Respondents rated their agreement with each item on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). The items included “I am comfortable in predominantly White gay, bisexual, and lesbian settings” and “I would prefer to live in a predominantly gay, lesbian, or bisexual community than a predominantly Black community.” These two items were significantly related to each other, r(90) = .40, p < .001. Measures: External Factors SOCIAL SUPPORT. We adapted the Quality of Social Support Scale (QSSS) to measure social support (Goodenow, Reisine, & Grady, 1990). The QSSS consists of 17 items that ask respondents about their perceptions of the support that they receive from important others in five dimensions: information and feedback, task assistance, opportunity

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for confiding, physical affection, and affirmation or ego support (Cronbach’s ␣ = .83 in this sample). Respondents rated their agreement with each item on a 4-point Likert scale (1 = never true to 4 = always true), with scores ranging from 21 to 84. Sample items include “Someone would loan me money or loan me something else of value if I needed it.” Pursuant to the literature that notes that many Black LGBTs do not perceive their family members to be supportive of their sexual identities (Greene, 1998; Loiacano, 1989), we adapted the QSSS to include 3 items that distinguished between support provided by friends and relatives (friends and relatives are combined in the original measure) and a 4th item that focused specifically on whether respondents could discuss issues relevant to their sexual identity as lesbians with friends and relatives. For example, a sample original item included “The important people in my life accept me as I am, including my worst and best points.” The sexual identity-specific item read, “The important people in my life accept me as I am, including my sexual orientation.” LGBT RESOURCES. To assess the available LGBT resources in respondents’ communities, we presented a list of 10 lesbian or bisexual women’s resources such as social clubs, bookstores, support groups, and hotlines. We asked respondents to indicate with a checkmark which of these were available where they lived. We assigned a 0 for unchecked boxes and a 1 for checked boxes. Scores on this measure ranged from 0 to 10. We also asked respondents to indicate which of these resources were designated specifically for or targeted to Black lesbians or bisexual women. Dependent Variable: Active Coping We measured active coping by means of the Behavioral Attributes of Psychosocial Competence Condensed Scale (BAPC–C; Zea, Reisen, & Tyler, 1996). The BAPC–C is a 13-item scale designed to measure proactive

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competent coping that is emblematic of a general style or orientation of coping (Cronbachs ␣ = .61 in this sample). Respondents choose 1 of 2 items that best represents their coping style with scores ranging from 0 to 13. Sample items include “As each new experience or phase of my life ends, I try to reassess myself and what I want out of life” and “In most situations, I seek out information that will help me grow as a person.” Data Analyses The primary goal of this study was to determine if internal factors (i.e., self-esteem and race and lesbian group identification) and external factors (i.e., social support and perceived available LGBT resources) predicted active coping. Before the analyses were conducted, all variables were assessed for and met the assumptions of normality. Next, we standardized the internal and external factor variables to preclude problems with potential multicollinearity. We tested the study’s conceptual model using hierarchical set regression analysis. In the first step, we entered the set of internal factors; in the second, we entered the set of external factors for the two-step procedure. To determine the relative contribution of internal and external factors to the overall model, we calculated the change in R2 that occurred when external factors were entered.

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Results Descriptive Statistics Table 1 shows the means, standard deviations, and correlational matrix for the study’s main variables. The lesbian identification variable was significantly correlated with active coping, perceived availability of LGBT resources, and social support. The social support variable was significantly correlated with active coping. Neither the selfesteem variable nor the race identification variable was correlated with any of the other variables in the model. Test of the Study’s Conceptual Model The results of the test of the study’s conceptual model are presented in Table 2. As expected, the model of internal (i.e., selfesteem and race and lesbian group identification) and external factors (i.e., social support and perceived available LGBT resources) predicted active coping, accounting for 16% of the variance in the model. Although the explained variance was statistically significant when internal factors were included in the model, an analysis of the change in the explained variance when external factors were included was not statistically significant. Lesbian identification (i.e., an internal factor) was the only statistically

TABLE 1 Descriptive Statistics and Correlations of Internal Factors (Self-Esteem, Race Identification, and Lesbian Identification) and External Factors (Social Support, Perceived Available LGBT Resources) and Active Coping Variables (N = 91) Variable

1

2

3

4

5

6

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

—

.07 —

−.14 .02 —

.01 .08 .29** —

−.02 −.07 .24* .18 —

.13 .01 .31** .13 .25* —

21.78 3.07

2.40 1.36

1.62 0.68

Self-esteem Race identification Lesbian identification Perceived availability of LGBT resources Social support Active coping

M SD Note.

LGBT = lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.

*p < .05.

**p < .01.

5.19 4.20

61.80 9.24

8.97 2.73

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TABLE 2 Summary of Hierarchical Set Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting Active Coping (N = 91) Model

R2

Set 1: Internal factors Set 2: External factors

.13 .16a

Final model

B

SE B

␤

0.18 −3.25 1.38

.09 .21 .42

.20 −.02 .34**

4.90 1.41

.032 .07

.17 .02

Set 1: Internal factors Self-esteem Race identification Lesbian identification Set 2: External factors Social support Perceived availability of LGBT resources Note.

F for model 4.35** 3.14**

LGBT = lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.

⌬R2 = .03, p = .28.

a

**p < .01.

significant predictor of active coping when all of the other variables in the model were controlled.

Discussion Using Tyler’s (1978) concept of active coping and Anderson et al.’s (1990) theoretical model of psychosocial competence for African Americans as a theoretical framework, our study tested a conceptual model of active coping among Black lesbians using internal factors (i.e., self-esteem, race identification, and lesbian identification) and external factors (i.e., social support and perceived availability of LGBT resources) as predictors. Our results for the overall model support Anderson et al.’s implicit focus on the combination of internal and external factors for African Americans, and in particular the Black lesbians in our study. Yet, counter to our expectations, our results demonstrate that internal psychological factors were more predictive of active coping than the external factors. We believe that this latter finding is explained by the fact that active coping reflects more of an internal or psychological dimension of psychosocial competence. Indeed, it is likely that had

our study included other external measures of psychosocial competence such as extended family and friend networks or Black churches (Anderson et al., 1990), the external factors might have had a larger impact on our study’s model. Our study yielded another interesting finding, namely that when all of the other variables in the conceptual model were controlled, only the lesbian identification variable predicted active coping. Primarily because our sample consisted of Black lesbians, women for whom issues of race and sexual identity are inextricably linked, we expected that race identification would be as strong as lesbian identification in predicting active coping. This, however, was not the case. Indeed, like self-esteem, the other internal psychological factor in the model, the race identification variable, was not correlated with any of the study’s other variables. Because most of the items on the race identification measure focused on racial identity within the context of sexual identity issues (e.g., “Racism is a much more serious issue in my life than homophobia”), it is possible that our race identification measure did not capture adequately the concept of race identification. Future research on the racial identification of Black lesbians using psycho-


SPECIAL ISSUE: ACTIVE COPING AMONG BLACK LESBIANS metrically validated scales of racial identity might better enhance understanding about how Black lesbians’ racial identity is linked to experiences such as active coping. Beyond its role as the sole predictor of active coping in the model when all of the other variables were controlled, the lesbian identification variable is also interesting because of its association with other variables in the model. That is, the lesbian identification variable was significantly related to both of the external factor variables (i.e., perceived availability of LGBT resources and social support). Thus, though lesbian identification is an internal psychological factor, our results suggest that it is also relevant to the individual’s sociocultural context and vice versa. It may even be feasible that for the Black lesbians in our study, the presence of ecological factors such as LGBT resources and social support may be internalized psychologically and expressed as lesbian identity. We believe that our study has theoretical implications for the study of positive psychology as well as the study of active coping with diverse Black populations. A consistent theme in much of the positive psychology literature is that social support is a fundamental component of well-being (Lopez et al., 2002). In our study, lesbian identification was positively associated with social support at the univariate level. Thus, our research raises several interesting questions about the nature of social support in relation to lesbian identity. As we have mentioned previously, an abundant literature on Black LGBTs laments Black families’ and communities’ lack of support for Black LGBT members (Clarke, 1983; Greene, 1998; Loiacano, 1989). Studies have investigated the types of social support received (e.g., informational, task assistance; see Goodenow et al., 1990), but it is important to understand the relationship between the person(s) providing the support and the individuals’ ability to navigate their social environment successfully when they are Black and lesbian (or Black gay, bisexual, or transgendered). Specifically, research is needed

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to investigate how Black families’ provision of social support or lack thereof influences the mental health of Black LGBTs, particularly in light of evidence of increased psychiatric morbidity among Black LGBTs in two national studies (Cochran & Mays, 1994). Similarly, more research is needed to understand how the experience of being out to Black family members and friends influences the nature of social support that Black LGBTs receive. Our study did not investigate the role of Black churches as a source of social support, but the theoretical literature (e.g., Greene, 1995) on this topic suggests that more research is needed to determine the extent to which Black LGBTs perceive Black churches as providing or withholding social support. Despite the aforementioned theoretical implications, our study is limited in several regards. One is the limited generalizability of our sample. Respondents were not randomly selected. Rather, they represented a self-selected sample of women attending a Black lesbian retreat. The fact that participants were in attendance at a retreat advertised as a “celebration of Black lesbians” may mean that the women in our sample were already higher in active coping and lesbian identity than those not attending such a retreat or those who did not volunteer to participate in the study. Moreover, because the women in our study were predominantly middle class and highly educated, it is plausible that their class privilege may have influenced their internal and external factors, as well as their active coping styles. The class privilege of most of the lesbians in our study may, in addition to providing them with the luxury to attend a weekend retreat, have facilitated opportunities to live in areas where LGBT resources and social support for lesbians might be more plentiful. Another limitation of our study is that because our study is cross-sectional, other models (e.g., active coping as a predictor of social support and self-esteem) may fit our data. This possibility notwithstanding, the goal of our study was to test a model consistent with Anderson et al.’s (1990) focus on internal and external


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factors for Black Americans. Our study also raises questions about the reliability of the race and lesbian identification measures for our sample. Finally, it is important to note that Anderson et al.’s theory of psychosocial competence focuses on a variety of internal factors such as locus of control and perceptions of reality. The internal factors of selfesteem as well as lesbian and race and group identification on which we focused represent just some of the internal factors that, along with external factors, may enhance active coping among Black lesbians. As for other external factors not included in our model, research with African Americans has long extolled the virtues of families, church support systems, religiosity, and spirituality for Black populations (Sanders, 2002; Taylor et al., 2001), but empirically speaking, we know little about the extent to which these traditional external factors help or hinder effective functioning among Black LGBT populations. Our research also has applied implications for Black lesbians as well as those who attend to their mental health and social needs. The aforementioned limitations of sampling at a Black lesbian retreat notwithstanding, one implication of our study is that Black lesbian retreats like those sponsored by Black lesbian organizations such as United Lesbians of African Heritage and the NIA Collective in California, and the Zuna Institute’s (2001) annual conference for Black lesbians, may further enhance active coping among Black lesbians, particularly because they facilitate internal factors such as self-esteem and race and lesbian identification, and external factors such as social support and the perceived availability of LGBT resources. These factors are critically important to Black lesbians who, beyond being a small relatively invisible group, often lack opportunities for affiliation with and social support from other Black lesbians (Zuna Institute, 2001). Indeed, the social support so readily available to Black heterosexuals for buffering the deleterious effects of race and class oppression may not be as readily available to Black lesbians unless

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they choose to remain closeted from their families and communities. Last, but by no means least, our research has implications for organizations dedicated to advancing the political and social wellbeing of multicultural populations such as Black men, women, and LGBTs. Rather than focusing on unidimensional multicultural identities such as sex/gender, ethnicity, or sexual identity, the Black lesbians in our study amply demonstrate that the and that joins their social identities reflects the complexity of their experiences better than the presumptive unidimensional or. For the Black lesbians in our study, the experiences of rising and surviving despite the threat or experience of multiple oppression are real rather than mere hypothetical endeavors.

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