ABSTRACT
The Southeastern of the United States, popularly known as the Bible Belt, has been a breeding ground for various repressions around sexual identity and behavior. When it comes to navigating sexuality, the South has been notorious for shaming and stigmatizing people based on their sexual orientation, sexual identity, and/or sexual behavior. This is commonly rooted in religious trauma from family upbringing, as well as identity tropes, such as the “Southern Belle” and the “Southern Gentleman,” which cause identity strain and tension. This chapter does three things: (1) examines sexual identities and behavior with Black individuals and couples, especially as it relates to femininity and masculinity, (2) educates counselors, therapists, coaches, and sex educators around the nuances of Black sexualities in the South, and (3) gives practical techniques to help release religious and/or identity tension in these communities. Using Intersectionality and Queer theoretical frameworks to open the dialogue that would otherwise be silenced has been highly effective in this work. The implications of this work can be used for other populations of color who have particular patterns of relating with regards to religion and other various pervasive (and geographical) identity tropes.
