Influenza vaccination is a critical preventive healthcare behavior designed to prevent spread of seasonal flu. This paper contributes to existing scholarship by applying an intersectional perspective to examine how influenza vaccination differs across specific intersections of racial/ethnic and sexual identity. Drawing on aggregated state-level data from Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) from 2011 to 2020, I examine how flu vaccination differs across 18 racial/ethnic-by-sexual orientation groups (N = 1,986,432). Findings from descriptive analyses and logistic regression modeling demonstrate three key findings. First, it corroborates previous studies of vaccination, finding lower rates of flu vaccination among black adults relative to whites; gays/lesbians vaccinate at higher rates than heterosexuals and bisexuals, with bisexuals reporting lower vaccination relative to both heterosexuals and gays/lesbians. Second, it demonstrates how sexual orientation complicates established patterns between race/ethnicity and vaccination (e.g., influenza vaccination is more racially stratified among heterosexuals, with patterns more variable among gays/lesbians) and how race/ethnicity complicates previous patterns of vaccination by sexual orientation (e.g., Asian bisexuals vaccinate more than both heterosexuals). Third, findings pinpoint identities (e.g., black heterosexuals relative to their white peers and white bisexuals relative to their gay/lesbian peers) most in need of influenza vaccination outreach efforts. Implications for findings suggest that heterosexuals, especially black, may be less likely to vaccinate against influenza thus may need more encouragement from clinicians to vaccinate. Additionally, influenza vaccination should be free for all persons to lessen the barrier of access for this preventative healthcare.

This study examines race socialization, defined as the process whereby individuals learn about the meaning and significance of race and racism. With data from the 2001–2004 National Survey of American Life-Adolescent Supplement (NSAL-A), we analyze responses to the Comprehensive Race Socialization Inventory (CRSI) among 1,170 African American and Caribbean Black adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17 years. The CRSI captures sources, frequency, content of messages, and prevalence of the most useful message, among other components (e.g., onset and recency, anticipatory socialization, and socializing behaviors). We find 90% of respondents report someone talked with them about what being Black means. In addition, most respondents report receiving messages from all four sources specified in the CRSI (i.e., parents, relatives, friends, and other adults). We find little evidence to suggest sources differ by sex, age, ethnicity, or U.S. region. The question assessing the most useful message is open-ended. Over 60% of respondents recall content supporting “Race equality,” maintaining a “Positive self-attitude,” or emphasizing “Black pride” as the most useful message. We conclude race socialization is commonplace among Black adolescents because racism necessitates it.

This study examines whether and how parenthood status is associated with two key aspects of health-mental well-being and smoking-among sexual minority adults across three gender identity groups: cisgender gay men, cisgender lesbian women, and transgender gay/lesbian adults. Background: Parents tend to report worse health than nonparents due to elevated stress associated with parenting. However, most existing scholarship de facto examines parental status and health among cisgender heterosexual adults. Little research has employed an intersectional approach to focus on parenthood and health differences within sexual minority adults across varying gender identities. Method: Ordinary least squares (OLS) and logistic regression models were used to analyze data from the 2010 Social Justice Sexuality Project (N = 2803), a survey of racially diverse sexual and gender minority adults residing in all 50 US states and Puerto Rico. Results: In a sample composed predominantly of people of color, parenthood status is related to both mental wellbeing and smoking status among gay and lesbian adults, but this relationship is inconsistent across cisgender and transgender groups. OLS regression models show that parenthood is positively related to mental well-being among gay and lesbian transgender people, whereas logistic regression results find that parenthood is associated with higher odds of smoking among cisgender gay men.

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