Stigma, Prejudice, and Violence Against Lesbians and Gay Men

Abstract

Institutional and personal hostility toward lesbians and gay men is a fact of life in the United States today. At the cultural level, homosexuality remains stigmatized through institutional policies. Statutes prohibiting antigay discrimination in employment, housing, and services are in force in only two states (Wisconsin and Massachusetts), the District of Columbia, and a few dozen municipalities and local jurisdictions (e.g., San Francisco, New York, Chicago). Lesbian and gay military personnel are subject to discharge if their sexual orientation is discovered, no matter how exemplary their service records. Gay civilians routinely are denied government security clearances, or are subjected to more intensive investigation than are heterosexual applicants. Lesbian and gay relationships generally are not legally recognized and, in 24 states and the District of Columbia, the partners in same-sex relationships are forbidden by law from private sexual contact (e.g., Herek, 1989, 1990a; Melton, 1989; Rivera, this volume). Many individual heterosexuals’ attitudes toward gay men and women are consistent with this institutional hostility. Roughly two-thirds of Americans condemn homosexuality or homosexual behavior as morally wrong or a sin (e.g., polls by ABC, 8/87; Los Angeles Times, 8/87; Roper, 9/85); this pattern appears not to have changed significantly from the late 1970s (e.g., polls by Yankelovich, 3/78; Gallup,