An 18th-century observer in Cuba noted enslaved men in long-term relationships where they referred to each other as "husband," with one partner performing domestic labor typically assigned to women.
Early Pennsylvania sodomy laws differentiated punishments based on race, suggesting that same-sex encounters among Black men were a recognized social concern for authorities. Scholarly Interpretations and Intimacy naked gay sex slaves
In the Caribbean, the word "mati" (shipmate) evolved into a term for female lovers, tracing back to erotic bonds formed between women in the sex-segregated holds of slave ships. An 18th-century observer in Cuba noted enslaved men
Recent scholarship emphasizes that sexuality was a "core terrain of struggle" between enslavers and the enslaved. Recent scholarship emphasizes that sexuality was a "core
Scholars such as C. Riley Snorton and Darius Bost in the landmark study A Black Queer History of the United States argue that queer expression has always been an intricate part of the Black freedom struggle. Contemporary Romantic Storylines in Literature