The Pandemics of Racism and COVID-19: Danger and Opportunity

This mixed-methods study, drawing on Critical Race Theory (CRT), examines the experiences of gay, bisexual, queer, and other men who have sex with men (GBQM) of colour facing discrimination during COVID-19 in Canada. Two rounds of qualitative interviews (November 2020-February 2021, and June-October 2021) with 93 GBQM explored the pandemic's impact. While participants didn't report discrimination based on sexual identity, racism significantly affected their treatment within sexual networks, particularly among East Asian and Black GBQM who faced verbal harassment in public and online, often related to COVID-19 discourse. The study concludes that racism poses a significant threat to the well-being of GBQM of colour, highlighting the need to understand how intersecting social categories shape their experiences during epidemics.

Daniel Grace, Cornel Grey, Ian Liujia Tian, Shayna Skakoon-Sparling, Emerich Daroya, Ben Klassen, David Lessard, Mark Gaspar, Jad Sinno, Jordan M Sang, Amaya Perez-Brumer, Nathan J Lachowsky, David M Moore, Jody Jollimore, Trevor A Hart, Joseph Cox