• Leigh Alon, Autumn Smith, Chuanhong Liao, and John Schneider.
• Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Center for HIV Elimination, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
• J Natl Med Assoc. 2019 Aug 1; 111 (4): 413-417.

Background/PurposeColorism is a well documented phenomenon affecting the health, income, education, and psychological wellbeing of African Americans with differing skin tones. There is little research, however, around how colorism may operate among intersectional racial sexual minorities, who additionally face both racism and homophobia, despite evidence that different forms of oppression interact with each other and may have modulating effects in this population. This study aims to clarify the effect colorism has on a variety of life and health outcomes in young black men who have sex with men (YBMSM).MethodsData were obtained from interviews conducted as part of the uConnect study, a longitudinal cohort study of YBMSM on the South Side of Chicago. Skin color of participants was rated by independent raters.ResultsWhile some previously found patterns in African American heterosexuals were observed in this population, most were not.ConclusionThe effects of colorism did not appear to have a significant role among this population across a wide set of social and health domains.Copyright © 2019 National Medical Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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