I have been reading an interesting book on the organisation of gender, sexuality and race in 1930s Chicago which draws attention to how PoC were stigmatised and feared for not conforming to hetero-patriarchal ideals of family. It cites some interesting sources around how social services and welfare essentially tried to bully African Americans into assimilating with the white middle class American family values of that time. It even accounts for a racially diverse queer scene that emerged in an African American neighbourhood on the south side, and represents African Americans at that time as being much more free in terms of gender and sexuality. I don’t know how how accurate this is so feel free to challenge me.

However, my question is whether anyone here has come across any sources that consider similar trends in Britain. I’ve found a lot of interesting stuff around sexuality and race in British colonies but struggling to find much in the way of a black queer history in Britain itself. Everything I’m reading suggests that people of colour had already assimilated with such values before arriving here. That said, I’m aware that history is whitewashed so if anyone has any sources that suggest otherwise I’d love to hear.

Edit: the book is called 'Aberrations In Black: Toward A Queer Of Color Critique' by Roderick Ferguson