Intersectionality looks at how social inequities such as racism, sexism, or classism can interact and shape people’s social experiences.
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"Reaching Out", pencil and pen drawing and digital collage by artist Sarah Li (2024) |
My PhD examined marginalisation in health and social care services in North East England, specifically looking at multiply marginalised LGBTQ+ people – those who had faced additional experiences of, for example, homelessness, substance use, racism, or domestic abuse. Seventy-two people across the region took part in interviews – 33 with professionals and 39 with marginalised LGBTQ+ people.
How would you explain intersectionality to someone new to the concept?
The shortest explanation would be that 1+1 does not equal 2. Intersectionality examines how different aspects of our identities can interact – creating unique experiences of discrimination. For example, a Black woman's experience isn't simply the addition of being Black plus being a woman. She may experience racism differently than a Black man, and she may experience sexism differently than a White woman. Her experiences as a Black woman are a unique intersection of race and gender. As Zora Neale Hurston perfectly captured in 1928: ‘I feel most coloured when I am thrown against a sharp white background’.
How did your research approach evolve during the study?
I adopted what I call a 'both and' approach. While LGBTQ+ identities remained central to the research, these shifted into the background when necessary, so as to examine broader systems of power. This flexibility became crucial as participants' stories revealed how factors like race, gender, economic status, and social class at times overshadowed their LGBTQ+ experiences.
What challenges did you face in participant recruitment?
One major challenge was ensuring diverse representation. I noticed early on that lesbians and bisexual women were underrepresented, so I paused recruitment to address this. This led to an unexpected complexity – navigating the cultural and political debates around gender identity, particularly around use of the word ‘woman’ – and how to distinguish between cisgender and transgender women without causing offence.
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Recruitment flyers for lesbian, bi, queer, and pansexual women (left) and LGBTQ+ people of colour (right) |
What key lessons did you learn about conducting research with an intersectional perspective?
The research required a constant shift in my own focus as a researcher. First, looking inward through reflexivity – examining my own unchecked biases and assumptions and their impact on how the study was conducted. Second, looking outward to understand the broader systems of power that influenced people’s experiences of marginalisation. It's a complex balance that requires both zooming in and out, while avoiding what has been called the ‘fetishization of complexity’.
The other lesson was to avoid ‘Oppression Olympics’ – thinking in terms of which groups experience the most oppression. Intersectionality is not about a hierarchy of minoritised groups. It’s about understanding the complex influences on our social identities, and how they apply to health inequity – the unfair disadvantages that impact on people’s health and their access to services.
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The study’s key findings and recommendations |
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Findings from the study are available in several formats
PDFs can be downloaded from the project’s website, with videos on YouTube and an Open Access scoping review published in BMC Health Services Research. Mark is involved in ongoing work exploring the experiences of LGBTQ+ people of colour, and collaborations with local organisations in consideration of intersectionality across the North East and Cumbria. To contact Mark or receive project updates via the mailing list click here.
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This study was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North East and North Cumbria (NENC) (NIHR200173). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.