Intersectionality Online: Digital Life for Black & Latine LGBTQ+ Adults

Our recent polling continues to show that for many LGBTQ+ people, digital spaces are more than online communities. They are essential environments for affirmation, identity, and safety.

This reality is especially clear for Black and Latine LGBTQ+ individuals, whose experiences online reflect the intersections of race, sexuality, gender identity, and the structural inequities they navigate.

Intersectionality of Race & LGBTQ+ Identity.pdf

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Why Black & Latine LGBTQ+ Adults Turn to Online Platforms

Many Black and Latine LGBTQ+ adults join online platforms to access something their offline environments often fail to provide: safety, self-expression, and community.

For Latine LGBTQ+ adults, the most common reasons include expressing their identity more openly (79%), escaping a negative offline environment (76%), exploring LGBTQ+ identities and experiences (72%), and finding LGBTQ+ support and community (65%).

Black LGBTQ+ adults shared similar motivations. Large majorities reported joining platforms to express their identity openly (73%), escape offline environments that felt unsafe or unwelcoming (71%), explore LGBTQ+ identities and experiences (71%), and access LGBTQ+ support and community (69%). These numbers demonstrate how central online platforms are to creating the conditions for safety, affirmation, and connection.

Online Platforms Shape Identity Discovery

Eighty-five percent of Latine LGBTQ+ adults say online platforms played a role in discovering their identity. Similarly, 79% of Black LGBTQ+ adults say the same. These high numbers underscore how identity exploration often begins in digital spaces where representation is accessible, community is visible, and people can engage with LGBTQ+ experiences on their own terms.

Ongoing Privacy & Safety Concerns

While digital platforms offer affirmation and connection, they also expose users to significant risks, and Black and Latine LGBTQ+ adults report serious concerns about how their identities and communities are treated online.

Latine LGBTQ+ adults express high levels of concern about the removal or restriction of LGBTQ+ content by platforms (82%). They also worry about government surveillance and data collection targeting LGBTQ+ individuals (81%), as well as the spread of anti-LGBTQ+ misinformation and disinformation online (77%).

Black LGBTQ+ adults report similarly urgent privacy and safety worries. Seventy-seven percent are concerned about losing access to online LGBTQ+ community spaces due to platform policies, a loss that would directly affect their safety and sense of belonging. Additionally, 71% are concerned about biometric data and AI surveillance being used in ways that could harm LGBTQ+ people. These concerns highlight the risks of emerging technologies that replicate or amplify systemic bias.

If we want a digital ecosystem that truly protects LGBTQ+ people, intersectionality must remain at the heart of online safety, privacy protections, and platform accountability. The data tells us exactly where the needs are, and where the opportunities for meaningful change lie.

You can further explore these and other findings in our full 2025 report: ctrl+alt+lgbt: Digital Access, Usage, and Experiences of the LGBTQ+ Community.