Is society less biased toward lesbians than toward gay
males?
Resources used to support "no."
It seems as though much of society accepts lesbian culture more
than the culture of gay males. Discrimination, hate crimes, and
general prejudicial attitudes do not support this assumption,
however. Lesbians are generally discriminated against in the eyes
of the American public. For example, studies have shown that
lesbians receives less health care than do heterosexual women,
presumably due to the biased attitudes of physicians. These women
report feeling degraded and looked down upon by the very people
that they should be trusting the most. This and other examples
show that our society is not any more accepting of lesbians than it
is of gay men. [Kimberly Spitz.]
WWW
- GLAAD urges media to challenge anti-gay statements
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is
trying to get the media involved in charging society's prejudicial
views toward homosexuality. Negative attitudes from politicians is
causing GLAAD to fight against discrimination toward homosexuals
for the sake of society. [Recommended by Kimberly
Spitz.]
- Five Reasons to Hate Gays
This interesting article discusses five reasons why
people hate gays: homosexuality is a sin, it is unnatural, it is
non-reproductive, it is harmful, and it is disgusting. The author
gives his arguments against each of these reasons and presents
contradictory passages from the Bible. He concludes that the
reasons why heterosexuals find reasons to hate homosexuals in
because of misunderstanding and fear. [Recommended by Kimberly
Spitz.]
- Gays,
Lesbians, and the Law
This informative article discussion homosexual
discrimination in Canada today. It includes descriptions of
traumatic experiences that lesbians and gays have been subjected to
in the past. [Recommended by Kimberly Spitz.]
- The Effect of Bias on Lesbian Healthcare by Moriah
McGrath.
This article deals with discrimination toward lesbians
in the healthcare system. They do not receive healthcare of the
same high standards as do heterosexual women because most doctors
do not approve of homosexuality. These doctors make these views
known to their lesbian clients, who are discouraged from returning
for necessary follow-up visits. For these and other reasons, the
health of lesbians has decreased in recent years. [Recommended by
Kimberly Spitz.]
Journal Articles
- Pratte, Trish. 1993. A comparative study of attitudes toward
homosexuality: 1986 and 1991. Journal of Homosexuality,
26:77-83
This study compares attitudes toward homosexuality in
1986 (when negative attitudes were due to the AIDS crisis) with
attitudes in 1991. While men expressed more negative attitudes
toward homosexuality than did women in both students and non-
students, this negativity declined by 1991. Those with the most
negative attitudes were likely to be rural, Caucasian, male and
from the midwest. This study suggests that the more socialized and
educated a person is, the less biased his/her attitudes will be
toward homosexuality. [Recommended by Kimberly
Spitz.]
- Simon, Angela. 1995. Some correlates of individuals'
attitudes toward lesbians. Journal of Homosexuality, 29:89-
102.
For this study, investigators administered
questionnaires that assessed attitudes toward lesbianism to 564
undergraduates. Female students shared more open attitudes toward
lesbianism than did men, possibly due to having lesbian friends and
acquaintances, more interpersonal contact with lesbians, for
contemporary feminist attitudes toward lesbianism. The author
suggests that women are more accepting of lesbianism when they have
experience with lesbians. [Recommended by Kimberly
Spitz.]
