Concept Identification Project

Discrimination and Oppression Related to the LGBTQ+ Community

Sex-The biological organs and processes that identify somebody as male or female.

Intersex-Individuals born with any of several variations in sex characteristics including gonads, genitals, sex hormones or chromosomes that do not fit typical definitions for male and female.

Gender-Societal proscriptions about what is considered male appropriate “masculine” behavior or female appropriate “feminine” behavior. Gender Expression is how people demonstrate societal proscriptions for gender in their day to day lives.

Gender Identity is a person’s internal sense of being male or female.

Genderqueer/Nonbinary- Terms for gender identities that are not exclusively masculine or feminine and do not adhere to the binary gender constructions that society has imposed. People who identify as Genderqueer may express combinations or masculinity or femininity that overlap, are fluid or are neutral.

Sexual Orientation- “Sexual orientation” is a term used to describe a person’s romantic, emotional or sexual attraction to another person. This is separate from gender identity.

History of the use Heterosexual/Homosexual labels -The term “homosexual” was first coined in the 1800s to categorize those who engaged in same-gender sexual behavior as sick or deviant (Bullough, 1994; Donovan, 1992). Over the years the term “homosexuality” has been associated with sin, criminal behavior, uncleanliness, and mental illness (Donovan, 1992; Hunter, Shannon, Knox, & Martin, 1998; Pierce, 2001) - all of which serve to place LGBT people in the subordinate role of being categorized as “deviant” individuals who are marginalized by mainstream society.

Using the term “homosexual” is one way that perpetuates the power of the majority group by creating “symbolic opposites.” The term “heterosexual” is used to describe the more powerful majority group and that the term “homosexual” is then the more negative hierarchical opposite, and is even seen by some as the “enemy” of “heterosexuality.” This type of hierarchical and opposing term serves to perpetuate a negative discourse about LGBT people.

In 1991 the American Psychological Association’s Committee on Lesbian and Gay Concerns published a set of guidelines for avoiding heterosexual bias in language, and discouraged psychologists from using the term “homosexual” because of its negative connotations with psychopathology and its primary focus on the sexual aspect of a person’s identity. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Pansexual or Queer are the preferred labels when preferring to one’s non-heterosexual orientation.

Homophobia and Heterosexism

The term “homophobia” was first coined in the late 1960s by George Weinberg, a heterosexual psychoanalyst who used the term to describe heterosexual people’s fear, contempt, and hatred of LGBTQ people. “Heterosexism” is a term that emerged after “homophobia,” and shares more in common with other terms like racism and sexism that focus on multiple levels of prejudice and oppression experienced by a group of people. Gregory Herek, a psychologist who has conducted a great deal of research on negativity and stigma directed toward LGBT people, has defined heterosexism as “the ideological system that denies, denigrates, and stigmatizes any non-heterosexual form of behavior, identity, relationships, or community” Heterosexism emphasizes the power that major social institutions possess, and the way this power is used to subordinate any non-heterosexual lifestyle.

Heterosexism as a Form of Oppression- Given that heterosexism serves to subordinate and stigmatize LGBTQ people, it can be viewed as a major oppressive force in the lives of LGBTQ people. Celia Kitzinger (1997) suggests that because of the pervasiveness of heterosexism, “Lesbians and gay men are oppressed in almost every aspect of our lives” (p. 204). This oppression is experienced at multiple levels of analysis (as described in Chapter One), including the personal, interpersonal or relational, and social or community. Although LGBTQ people may experience heterosexism and oppression in multiple forms within these various ecological systems, Gregory Herek (1992) and Ski Hunter and her colleagues (1998) assert that heterosexism is manifested in two primary ways: through societal customs and institutions (cultural heterosexism) and through individual attitudes and behaviors (psychological heterosexism).

Some forms of heterosexism within these categories are blatant and vengeful, whereas others may be more subtle (regardless of whether or not they are intentional), and may be perpetuated without the oppressor’s conscious recognition that she or he is being heterosexist. Many non-LGBTQ people are not aware of the heterosexist nature of most societies since heterosexist language, icons, images, and messages are so pervasive within various realms of our existence. For example, LGBTQ people are traditionally non-existent in mainstream advertising. How many television commercials or magazines ads have you seen that include a same gender couple purchasing a car, or having a meal with their children, or sharing a tender kiss?

Luxury of Oblivion-At the most basic level, most heterosexual women and men have never been forced to question their sexual attraction to, or love for, members of the opposite gender, since they assume that their affectional feelings and emotions are just a “natural” or “normal” part of being a woman or man. For many LGBT people, on the other hand, these feelings of sexual desire and love for a person are often questioned on a daily basis, as they are constantly bombarded with messages regarding the deviance of the feelings and emotions that to them are “natural” and “normal.”

What are some other examples of the Luxury of Oblivion afforded to straight individuals?

POLICY AND LEGAL ISSUES

Employment Protection for Gays and Lesbians-

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) does not enforce the protections that prohibit discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation, status as a parent, marital status and political affiliation. However, other federal agencies and many states and municipalities do.

Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA), as amended, prohibits federal employees who have authority to take, direct others to take, recommend or approve any personnel action from discriminating against applicants and employees on the bases of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, marital status or political affiliation and from discriminating against an applicant or employee on the basis of conduct which does not adversely affect the performance of the applicant or employee. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has interpreted the prohibition of discrimination based on "conduct" to include discrimination based on sexual orientation.

An Executive Order was signed on May 28, 1998, amending the above to provide a uniform policy for the federal government to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. Executive Order 11478 section 1 reads:

It is the policy of the government of the United States to provide equal opportunity in federal employment for all persons, to prohibit discrimination in employment because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap, age, or sexual orientation and to promote the full realization of equal employment opportunity through a continuing affirmative program in each executive department and agency. This policy of equal opportunity applies to and must be an integral part of every aspect of personnel policy and practice in the employment, development, advancement, and treatment of civilian employees of the federal government, to the extent permitted by law.

Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is a proposed bill that has been attempted during every congress since 1994 in the United States Congress that would prohibit discrimination against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity by civilian, nonreligious employers with at least 15 employees. To date, this has still not been passed.

Bostock v Clayton County, Georgia (2020)- The Supreme Court held that firing individuals based on their sexual orientation or transgender status violates Title VII’s protection based on sex.

Sodomy Laws- Made a variety of sexual acts illegal. They were only loosely defined, but generally referred to oral or anal sex or beastiality. While they often targeted sexual acts between persons of the same sex, many statutes used definitions broad enough to outlaw certain sexual acts between persons of different sexes as well, sometimes even married persons, however these laws were rarely used against heterosexual people. . In 1986, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of these laws, Prior to 2003, Fourteen states still had these laws on the books, however in 2003 the Supreme Court struck them down as unconstitutional. The effects of these laws were not only the crime itself, but it carried over into employment, parenting, and the marriage argument for gays and lesbians.

Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) 1996

Federal act that was enacted as a result of Hawaii’s move towards legalizing gay marriage. The main effects of this act were listed in the following sections:

Section 2. Powers reserved to the states

No State, territory, or possession of the United States, or Indian tribe, shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other State, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of such other State, territory, possession, or tribe, or a right or claim arising from such relationship.

Section 3. Definition of marriage

In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word 'spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.

In United States v. Windsor (2013), the U.S. Supreme Court declared Section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

The evolution towards the legalization of gay marriage was fraught with backlash every step of the way, which required ongoing challenges in court as gay and lesbian people would secure marriage licenses and then have states enact legislation to nullify marriage legality.

As of June 26, 2015

Same sex marriage became legal nationwide when the United States Supreme Court ruled (Obergefell v. Hodges) that state-level bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional. The court ruled that the denial of marriage licenses to same-sex couples and the refusal to recognize those marriages performed in other jurisdictions violates the Due Process and the Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.

Transgender- For non-transgender people, there is no difference between their gender identity and their physical sex. Transgender is an umbrella term used to describe people whose gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth. For example, someone born male may not feel much or any connection to what our culture has defined as being “masculine” and may instead strongly identify with what is considered “feminine.” Some transgender people’s sense of difference is so strong that they believe that they were assigned the wrong sex at birth and have a desire to alter their physical identity until it matches their gender identify using sex reassignment therapy and/or surgery.

Pronoun use- The use of pronouns becomes confusing for many as there are basically only three pronouns in the English language; “her” referring to females and “him” referring to males and “it” referring to objects. Some people who identify as transgender or non-binary prefer the use the term “they” “their” or “them” which is gender neutral. Because this is technically a plural term, there have been suggestions for gender neutral pronouns such as the neutral “zie (to use instead of “he” or “she”) or “hir” (instead of “him” or “her.”) Several new terms have continued to emerge in the lexicon of gender studies. Dead naming is a term that refers to someone intentionally or unintentionally referring to someone by the name they used before they transitioned. Cisgender which is a term used specifically for people whose gender identity matches their assigned sex.

In terms of interacting with transgender people, one thing that is important to remember is to start by not presuming anything—like anyone else, transgender people have individual desires about the language they choose for themselves, including both how they describe themselves and what pronouns they use. Once you learn the language someone prefers, embrace it, as more and more publications, workplaces, and schools are beginning to do.

Discrimination Issues- Transgender people may be discriminated against in many areas of their lives. Discrimination can range from having housing denied, to being unable to secure marriage/partner benefits, to being labeled and assumed to be a gender with which one does not identify.

Some unique considerations and history concerning Transgender Identity- No one has a definitive answer about what causes transgender identity, but there are many theories. Some believe it may be caused by the bathing of a fetus by opposite birth sex hormones while in utero, or perhaps by some spontaneous genetic mutation, which is also one of the theories of the origin of homosexuality. Due to the intensity of their gender dysphoria, some people who are transgender come to feel they can no longer continue living in the gender associated with their physical (birth) sex. Until more recently, transgender individuals were described as having "gender identity disorder" (GID) - being deemed a mental illness by the American Psychiatric Association. Medical professionals tend to believe that transgender is both a medical and mental health condition that may require treatment rather than simply labeling it as a mental illness. Recently, GID was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (“DSM-V”). In the DSM-V, there is a category for “gender dysphoria” which identifies the discomfort that a person feels when his or her gender identity differs from his or her sex assignment. There is disagreement among transgender leaders about the effect of removing the original GID category. Some wanted it removed because they felt it stigmatized transgender people and provided a pretext for discrimination against them. They also believe it may cause harm to children when parents seek treatment for a child when the child may merely be expressing gender variance. Some transgender people believe it is not the condition but society's rigid approach to sex and gender that are problematic. Others want GID to remain because a GID diagnosis in some states could qualify as a disability, for which medical coverage could be available and to which disability discrimination provisions could apply.