Inequality Based on Sexual Orientation

1. Inequality Based on Sexual Orientation

2. Introduction…. • Sex is a source of great pleasure to humans. It is also a source of pain and controversy. Whether it is one or the other depends on whom you’re talking to and what kind of sex you’re talking about.

3. Beyond Heterosexual Relationships…. • Women fall in love with women, men fall in love with men. Lesbians and gay men become closely attached, and they enjoy intimate and romantic relationships. • Gay and lesbian couples do not differ from married heterosexual couples in the quality of their relationships. Lawrence Kurdek and J. Patrick Schmitt (1986) surveyed four groups of couples who were living together and considered their relationships to be monogamous. • The things that make heterosexual couples happy and satisfied in their relationships are bascially the same things that make lesbian and gay couples happy in theirs (Kurdek, 1995).

4. Inequality Based on Sexual Orientation…. • Sex is a source of great pleasure to humans. It is also a source of pain and controversy. Whether it is one or the other depends on whom you’re talking to and what kind of sex you’re talking about. • Homosexuality, the third type of behavioral variance, is the sexual orientation of at least 2 or 3 percent of American women and 3 to 4 percent of American men.

5. Inequality Based on Sexual Orientation…. • Social structural factors that tend to perpetuate prejudice and discrimination against homosexuals include societal norms and the legal and religious policies and practices that support those norms. • Social psychological factors include attitudes toward extending full rights to homosexuals, and ideologies about the morality and healthiness of homosexuality.

6. Religion and law influence people’s Beliefs About Homosexuality…. • Most major religions regard homosexuality as a sin. Contemporary religious fundamentalists denounce homosexual conduct as a sigh of great moral decay and societal chaos. • Religious institutions have a profound effect on attitudes. Most of us accept the principle of religious freedom. People should be able to practice religion (or not) in their own way…. • Religious training does not only affect religious beliefs, of course. Different religions also influence attitudes and values regarding the roles of women and men, the morality of birth control, whether homosexuality is accepted or denounced, and the value of diversity. These broader effects are less obvious but no less important.

7. Religion and law influence people’s Beliefs About Homosexuality….

8. Gay Rights Advocates…. • Beginning with the Gay Liberation movement in the 1960s, advocates have argued that lesbians and gay men are citizens and entitled to the same rights and protections that all citizens enjoy, including the right to equal employment and housing, legally sanctioned marriage, and protection from harassment and hate crimes. Some analysts suggest that future social change depends on the continued vigilance of gay and lesbian advocacy organizations.

9. Antidiscrimination Legislation…. • Most societies do try to influence discrimination directly: they declare it illegal. • These laws make no attempt to outlaw prejudice—it is impossible to prohibit feelings and attitudes. But it is possible to control the behavioral manifestations or prejudice by making discrimination illegal. • The belief is that antidiscrimination legislation will have largely positive effects, especially over the long term….

10. Antidiscrimination Legislation…. • Same-Sex Marriage Laws: On November 2, 2004, George W. Bush was reelected U.S. president. • Would making same-sex marriage legal influence attitudes toward gays and lesbians?

11. Antidiscrimination Legislation…. • Norms Against Discrimination. Laws have an educative function: they can be used to teach important values and principles. That is, laws help to establish norms in society, which are rules or guidelines about what behaviors are acceptable and unacceptable. • There is also evidence that social norms coming from interpersonal sources (rather than from laws) are influential in the area of stereotypes and prejudice.

12. Conclusion…. • Encouraging contact between groups is probably the most important step, particularly among children in the school system. • At the societal level, legislation against discrimination minimizes the impact of prejudice, establishes a norm of tolerance, and probably influences attitudes in a desirable direction over time.