Sexism is discrimination based on sex. Heterosexism is the discrimination or prejudice based on not being heterosexual. In other words, heterosexism described the predominant thinking that there is an inherent superiority in being heterosexual, thereby limiting social acceptance, tolerance, and empathy for people who do not identify as being heterosexual. Sometimes this can come in the form of overt bigotry, but sometimes heterosexism can be harder to identify. For example, as a women, I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been asked if I have a boyfriend or husband. However, I can’t recall an instance where someone used more inclusive language to gain perspective into my relationship status. Something like, “Do you have a partner?” And I don’t think I’ve ever been asked if I have a girlfriend or wife. Now, this is not to say that all those people are bigots or mean or intending to be exclusive, but we can see how heterosexism has become the normative presumption while other sexual identities have taken a backseat.
Heterocentrism is the belief that heterosexuality is central and normal in contrast to other sexual orientations. This leads to other sexual orientations being viewed as inferior, abnormal, or even unacknowledged. Heterocentrism can be a fueling force behind homophobia, both at individual and societal levels. Homophobia is ideology that disadvantages sexual minority groups. Homophobia can take many forms: violence perpetrated against sexual minorities, failure to allow same-sex marriage, criminalizing homosexual behaviors (it wasn’t until 2003 the Supreme Court reversed the decision with Lawrence v. Texas, invalidating sodomy laws the criminalization of numerous sexual acts between people of the same sex), or discrimination in the workplace. However, homophobia is often overlooked (except in the occasional headline—events such as the brutal murders of Matthew Shepard, Brandon Teena, and Gwen Araujo). 92% of LGBTQ+ students report hearing homophobic slurs in school regularly, 84% of LGBTQ+ student report being threatened because of their sexual orientation, 39% of gay, lesbian, and bisexual students and 55% of transgender students reported having been shoved or pushed, and 64% percent of GLBTQ students reported feeling unsafe at school.122
Where does much of the homophobia come from? Heterocentrism can lead to heterosexism, and of left unchecked, heterosexism will allow homophobia to flourish. Researcher, author, and professor of psychology at the University of Rochester explained:
“Individuals who identify as straight but in psychological tests show a strong attraction to the same sex may be threatened by gays and lesbians because homosexuals remind them of similar tendencies within themselves. In many cases these are people who are at war with themselves and they are turning this internal conflict outward. Sometimes people are threatened by gays and lesbians because they are fearing their own impulses, in a sense they ‘doth protest too much.’ In addition, it appears that sometimes those who would oppress others have been oppressed themselves, and we can have some compassion for them too, they may be unaccepting of others because they cannot be accepting of themselves.”123
Reinforcing the focus on heterosexuality as being the normative or standard sexuality enhances anti- LBGT+ attitudes. Although those attitudes are declining in the United States, the minority still expressing these negative attitudes has a significant impact on LGBTQ+ people, their supporters, and society as a whole. Homonegativity and homophobia differ depending on the perpetrator or provocateur and the person on the receiving end of the negativity.
122 Advocates for Youth. 2016. How the Homophobic Climate in the United States Affects GLBTQ Youth. http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/pub...ophobic-climat e-in-the-unit ed-states-affects-glbtq-
youth
123 Homophobia is More Pronounced in Individuals Who Have Internal Conflict Regarding Their Own Sexual Identity.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. April, 2012.
