Although it is said that intimacy should be reciprocal, for some same-sex black men, this is not always their truth. For many men, intimacy is a definition of sex, the one place that men allow themselves to become emotionally venerable. Men are men regardless of their sexual orientation. Emotional vulnerability, especially for black same-sex men in long-term relationships, can provide difficult points in the union. Overall, the quality and relational satisfaction are comparatively similar across couple types same-sex and straight relationships are comparable in many ways. Emotional Vulnerability and Relationship Satisfaction Giving black same-sex couples in loving relationships a voice allows them to share their stories and preserve and improve their relational success. The emotional bond between black same-sex couples eclipses the stigmatization and barriers in the societal environment they often endure. Other central relational factors for relationship resilience include maturity, integration as a couple, compatibility and ambiguity of external supports (Riggle, Rotblum, Rostosky, Clark, & Balsam, 2016, p. 320).ĭespite challenges, same-sex couples have developed strategies for expressing their commitment, through availability, empathic attunement, appreciation, and shared goals. Research on long-term relationships has shown that intimate communication with little relational conflict facilitates open communication and trust between couples (Riggle, Rotblum, Rostosky, Clark, & Balsam, 2016, p. Similar to heterosexual couples there are many factors that correlate with black same-sex couples’ relational satisfaction and success. We are not a people of the destroyers’ world, our roots return to anoa. “we are not a people of yesterday.Īsk when first a brother’s lips kissed a brother’s mouth. Long-term black same-sex couples have endured relationships despite the sociopolitical atmosphere that has polarized and stigmatized them with no societal recognition for their relationships. Above all, black same-sex couples that receive support socially from their communities, have familial support and emotional stability display resilient strategies in face of structural, psychosocial and relationship barriers (Applewhite & Bounds-Littlefield, 2015, p. Nevertheless, black male same-sex couples regardless of societal and structural pressures effectively form successful, stable partnerships along racially concordant lines. A perspective that focuses and reduces black same-sex men only to their sexual behaviours and considers their interpersonal and romantic relationships as secondary (Applewhite & Bounds-Littlefield, 2015, p. Notwithstanding that, the experiences of black same-sex male couples are not central in the context of HIV or from a deficit perspective. It has become relevant in this current culture for same-sex men of colour to become intervention managers for safer-sex in relationships due in part to same-sex and bisexual men of colour having the largest number of HIV diagnoses (HIV.gov, 2017, para. In our fast-paced culture, it has become the norm for black same-sex couples to enhance their communication skills, intimacy, and emotional validation.