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Chapter Overview
Society’s attitudes towards sexual identities have become increasingly progressive, but we have still not arrived at equality and justice for all. One’s sexual orientation, the sexual attraction people feel to others of a particular sex, is no longer limited to heterosexuality. People who identify as anything other than heterosexual have adopted the once derogatory term queer as a way to liberate themselves from heteronormative constructs of relationships. However, this term is not supported by all within the community, thus LGBTQI+ is the term we use in this chapter to describe those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, queer, intersex, and other. To accommodate the sexual identities of Indigenous in Canada, we adopted the term two-spirited.
According to Dr. Alfred Kinsey, sexual orientation is not a binary choice, but rather exists on a fluid continuum. When a person “comes out” they are said to express their sexual identity (how a person chooses to sexually identity) to friends and family. In some countries, this process of coming out is easier than in others. Many countries still bar homosexual activity. In order to create secure areas to promote one’s sexual identity, gay communities formed by adopting the principles of institutional completeness.
Each theoretical model has a different way of looking at sexual orientation. Functionalism looks at homosexuality and asexuality as forces that lead to social disorganization. From the perspective of a conflict theorist, heteronormativity is how dominant groups promote a set of worldviews that puts minorities, the LGBTQI+, at a disadvantage. Feminists view sexual orientation as existing along a spectrum. Feminists are concerned with heterosexism, the discrimination that homosexuals face. Symbolic interactionists are interested in how society constructs and enacts sexual identities.
Homophobia is the fear and hatred of homosexuals. A distinct quality of homophobia is that it is essentialist, meaning that all homosexuals are believed to be fundamentally the same. This essentialist aspect has two dimensions: immutability and fundamentality. Immutability means that no one can change their sexual orientation. Fundamentality refers to the belief that one’s sexual orientation sits at the centre of who that person is. According to the attribution value of prejudice, groups that are stigmatized are held morally responsible for the behaviour that stigmatizes them.