Despite a general shift toward secularity, very few people of color in the United States identify as atheist. Further, atheists of color are underrepresented in studies of atheists, and the experiences of atheists of color specifically have, to date, not been captured in the extant scholarship. Addressing this gap in the literature, we interviewed 17 self-identified adult atheists of color, predominantly from Christian backgrounds, residing in the United States using a critical feminist phenomenological approach. Six broad themes emerged from the data: (a) atheist identity development; (b) experiences of discrimination; (c) isolation; (d) violations of cultural expectations; (e) strategic outness; and (f) benefits of atheist identification. Experiences consistent with previous literature and novel and unique experiences specific to atheists of color are reported. Implications for training, practice, and research are discussed. Public Significance StatementThis study is the 1st to explore the experiences of atheists of color and found their trajectory to atheism to be similar to previously proposed models of identity development. Atheists of color experience antiatheist discrimination, navigate atheism as a violation of cultural expectations, use strategic outness, and benefit from a sense of connection and freedom associated with their atheist identity.

The current study sought to qualitatively examine the role of social class in the development of atheist identity, the experience of atheism-related minority stress, and relationships between atheists. Using a critical phenomenological design, we captured the experiences of 15 working-class and the low-income U.S. American atheists and identified five themes: Early Doubts and Establishment of Atheist Values; Diverse Experiences of Antiatheist and Class-Based Stigma; Expecting Indifference, Exercising Caution; Strategies of Concealment and Disclosure; and Atheism as an Individual, Rather Than Collective, Experience. Results suggested working-class and low-income atheists engaged in strategic outness to manage risk and their atheist identities developed similarly to studies including primarily class-privileged atheists. However, working-class and low-income atheists diverged from extant atheism scholarship in their relatively low atheist identity centrality and limited engagement with and perceived connection to other atheists. We conclude with implications for our findings and directions for future research.

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Using a critical, grounded theory approach, we interviewed 31 atheist-identified women to ascertain the ways in which women develop and navigate an atheist identity and how their experience is influenced by patriarchal, hegemonic Christianity in the United States using a concealable stigmatized identity framework. Qualitative analysis resulted in six core categories: (1) Embracing Atheism as Liberation, (2) Escaping Christian Patriarchy, Challenging Atheist Patriarchy, (3) Low Identity Salience Provides Protection from Anti-Atheist Discrimination, (4) Expectations to Conform to Christian Norms, (5) Disclosure Requires Thoughtfulness and Purpose, and (6) Connecting with Other Atheists is Valuable and Elusive. Although atheist women experienced sexism within atheist communities that made connecting with other atheists challenging, participants viewed atheism as liberating them from religious patriarchy. Anti-atheist discrimination was common early in women’s atheist identity development, but not as frequent or salient over time. Rather, Christian hegemony and the expectation to adapt to Christian norms were more distressing than individual acts of anti-atheist discrimination. Therefore, concealment and disclosure were used to reduce personal discomfort and protect others’ feelings, rather than to avoid overt anti-atheist stigma. Integration with previous concealable stigmatized identity and atheism literature is discussed. In the interest of more equitable and healthy atheist communities for women atheists, community members and leaders are encouraged to dismantle patriarchy within secular organizations and center women’s voices and experiences. Clinicians and researchers can increase awareness of how hegemonic, patriarchal Christianity influences their professional work and the women they serve and eradicate such bias from their methods.