Blacks and Latinos who are also gay have hate coming at them from different angles, and, according to new research, this helps them to cope with prejudice better than their white counterparts.

“These findings suggest that black lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals have effective ways to cope with prejudice related to racism and homophobia” said Dr. Ilan H. Meyer, associate professor of clinical sociomedical sciences at the Mailman School and principal investigator of the study.

“The finding regarding younger cohorts of lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals is consistent with social stress theories that predicted that the liberalization of social attitudes toward homosexuality over the past few decades can lead to a decline in stress and related mental disorders and suicide among lesbians, gay men, and bisexual individuals," Meyer said in a news release.

Here's where I get confused — the study, which polled 388 white, black, and Latino gays, says blacks and Latinos are more likely to have a history of suicide attempts. In general, though, it seems that blacks and Latinos had fewer mental disorders than whites, a finding that the researchers didn't expect.

[Fox & QT]