Same Gender Loving (SGL)

Same Gender Loving, or SGL, is a term for Black and African American people attracted to the same gender. Activist and social architect Cleo Manago coined it in the early 1990s as a culturally affirming alternative to "gay" and "lesbian," which he and others felt centered white, Eurocentric frameworks and symbols. SGL instead grounds identity in Black community, history, and values. The term is used both as a personal identity and as a statement of self-determination, and it appears often in Black LGBTQ+ health and advocacy work, including efforts addressing HIV among Black same-gender-loving men. For many, choosing SGL is a way to name same-sex love on their own cultural terms.