Findings suggest that there are parallels between the management strategies of these women and young, Black gay and bisexual males and between these women and Black women who are coping with sexism and racism. Analysis focuses on how gender identity relates to experiences of sexual prejudice and identity management strategies. Responses to sexual prejudice included: cognitive reframing of heterosexist messages, passing, gaining support from self-created gay families, and fighting back (physically and verbally) in the event of isolated instances of sexual prejudice. Results indicated that participants experienced sexual prejudice frequently and even within the lesbian community. Instances of sexual prejudice and the young women's responses were thematically analyzed using open and axial qualitative coding techniques. Fourteen Black lesbians between the ages of 16 and 24 participated in semistructured interviews. On Pose, Damon (Swain) and Ricky (Burnside) are young Black men searching for their place in the world in 1980s New York, at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.Damon is a young queer dancer estranged from his biological family for his sexuality and feminine attributes, and Ricky is a young man who lives on the streets of NYC, hungry for love and security. This article explores the ways in which young, Black lesbians manage their sexual minority identity when experiencing sexual prejudice.
