Where's the sex in sexual prejudice?

In: Lesbian & Gay Psychology Review, Band 7, Heft 3, S. 264-275

Abstract

Sexual prejudice has been constructed as prejudice against a minority group, defined by lesbian/gay identity, rather than reactions to expressions of minority sexual identities, including sexual practice. In the 1970s psychologists influenced by liberationist thinking theorised heterosexual desire and practice as evidence of 'homophobia.' The rise of the stigmatised identity model in lesbian and gay psychology shifted theorising about heterosexuals' prejudice away from sexual practice. However, since the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, gay and bisexual men's sexual practices have been theorised as evidence of 'internalised homophobia.' Thus, some sex between men can now evidence psychological 'homophobia' while straight sex can not. This inequality may support current forms of heterosexism. Support for sexual orientation based equality has grown in recent decades, but permissive attitudes towards lesbian/gay sex have not. Contemporary heterosexist prejudice involves both support for equality and lingering abjection of same-sex practices. As heterosexuality remains the preferred form of sexuality to be expressed in public, prejudice researchers should consider sexual prejudice as an ideology that targets the expression of sexual identity – including sexual practice – rather than the possession of that sexual identity per se. Current psychological models of 'internalised homophobia' may support rather than critique that ideology.