Social Problems in a Diverse Society, 4Ce

Kendall/Thompson/Nygaard

Solution Manual for Social Problems in a Diverse

Society Canadian 4th Edition Kendall Thompson
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CHAPTER 6
Inequality Based on Sexual Orientation

CHAPTER SUMMARY
Most societies have norms pertaining to sexuality. The norms are based on ideas about what
forms of attraction and sexual relationships are appropriate. In many societies, people experience
prejudice and discrimination, known as homophobia or biphobia, based on known or presumed
sexual orientation. Same sex couples in Canada were granted the legal right to marry with the
passage of Bill C-38 in July of 2005. Gay men and lesbian women have historically been
discriminated against in employment, parental issues and adoption, housing and medical care.
Gay males may be the group most victimized by hate crimes in some places in Canada.
Interactionists focus on the process by which people come to identify themselves as gay, lesbian,
bisexual, or straight, and some sociologists suggest that sexual orientation is a master status for
many people. Most functionalist analysts believe that homosexuality may be dysfunctional for
society if it undermines norms and laws that preserve the family unit. From a conflict
perspective, laws relating to sexual orientation and norms such as compulsory heterosexuality
reflect the beliefs of dominant group members. Feminist analysts in the past focussed on the
ways that heterosexuality oppressed women and more recent feminist analysis focuses on a more
inclusive politics of difference perspective. Queer theorists argue that problems associated with
sexual orientation are the result of a heteronormative culture, and sex, gender, and sexual
orientation are merely social constructions. As social constructions, no one sexual orientation is
“natural” but rather any and all are constructed politically and socially as “natural” or
“unnatural”.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading Chapter 6, students should be able to:
1. State the criteria sociologists use to study sexual orientation and explain how religion and
law influence people’s beliefs about homosexuality, bi-sexuality and heterosexuality.
2. Discuss some of the types of discrimination that gay and lesbian people experience,
particularly focussing on hate crimes.
3. Explain the difference between heterosexism and homophobia.
4. Describe what compulsory heterosexuality is and how and why it works.
5. Discuss feminist and queer theory perspectives.
6. State how interactionists explain issues associated with sexual orientation.
7. Contrast functionalist and conflict theory perspectives on problems associated with inequality
based on sexual orientation.
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KEY TERMS
biphobia heteronormativity pansexuality
compulsory heterosexuality homophobia sexuality
heterosexism master status sexual orientation

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CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. NATURE AND EXTENT OF INEQUALITY BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION

A. Sexual orientation refers to a preference for emotional–sexual relationships with

individuals of the “same” sex (homosexuality), the “opposite” sex (heterosexuality),
or both (bisexuality). This type of definition, however, encourages us to think of
sexual orientation as an “either–or” proposition—you are either heterosexual or you
are homosexual or you are bisexual—when, in fact, not only do many people exhibit
a shifting sexual orientation over their lifetimes, they may identify differently
depending upon whether we are talking about behaviour, attraction, fantasy, desire, or
self-identity.
1) The term gay men refer to males who prefer same-sex emotional-sexual
relationships, whereas the term lesbian refers to females who prefer same-
sex emotional-sexual relationships.
2) Heterosexual individuals, who prefer “opposite”-sex emotional-sexual
relationships, are sometimes referred to as straight.
3) Researchers at the University of Chicago in the 1990s established three
criteria for identifying people as homosexual or bisexual: (a) sexual
attraction to persons of one’s own gender, (b) sexual involvement with one
or more persons of one’s own gender, and (c) self-identification as a gay
man, lesbian, or bisexual.
4) Pansexuality is a relatively new term used to refer to people who are
attracted to male, female, trans, androgynous, gender fluid, and non-
gendered people.
B. The 2001 Census was the first to ask about same sex partnerships but no Census yet
has asked about sexual orientation specifically. The 2001 Census found that one-half
of one percent of all couples were same sex. By 2011, 64 575 couples reported same-
sex partnerships, compared with 7 797 280 heterosexual couples. Of these, 29 380
were female couples and 35 195 were male couples.
C. Estimates of the population of gay and lesbian and bisexual people vary widely with
some researchers claiming that at least 10 percent of the population primarily engages
in same-sex relationships and an even higher percentage is bisexual, as high as 25
percent. In 2003 the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), a Statistics
Canada survey, included a question about it. The CCHS found that one percent of
adults aged 18 – 59 identified themselves as gay or lesbian while a further 0.7 percent
identified as bisexual. In a further 2004 General Social Survey (GSS) (also conducted
by Statistics Canada), 1.5 percent of people identified as “homosexual” 94 percent
identified as “heterosexual” and 6 percent did not identify their sexual orientation.
D. Most societies have norms pertaining to sexuality. The norms are based on the
assumption that some forms of sexual and emotional relationships are normal and
appropriate while others are abnormal and inappropriate.
1) In many societies, homosexual conduct is classified as a form of deviance that
results in a person becoming a target of prejudice, discrimination, and even death.
2) Extreme prejudice directed at gay men and lesbians is known as homophobia.
Homophobia and biphobia (fear and intolerance of bisexuals and bisexuality) is

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intensified by the ideology of compulsory heterosexuality, a belief system that

denies, denigrates, and stigmatizes gay, lesbian, or bisexual behaviours, identities,
relationships, and/or communities.
3) Elisabeth Young-Bruehl a Colombia University psychotherapist and faculty
member, classified what she calls primary prejudices into three categories:
obsessive, hysterical and narcissistic. She argues that homophobia alone, of all
prejudices such as sexism, racism and so on, represents all three kinds of
prejudice, perhaps helping to explain its persistence.

II. IDEOLOGICAL BASES OF INEQUALITY BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION

A. Media, Stereotypes and Sexual Orientation

1) Stereotypical beliefs about lesbians and gay men often equate people’s sexual
orientation with sexual practice. For example, gay men and lesbians—regardless
of the nature and extent of their sexual activity—are often still stereotyped as “sex
obsessed, sexually compulsive, and sexually predatory”.
2) Despite increases in the profile of homosexuals in mainstream media, media
depictions still tend to reinforce stereotypes of gay men as sexual predators or
effeminate sissies while lesbians are still depicted as butch, man- hating “dykes”.
3) Stereotypical beliefs that dominant (heterosexual) group members hold about gay
men and lesbians are a major impediment to reducing inequalities based on sexual
orientation.
B. Religion and Sexual Orientation
1) Most of the world’s major religions-including Judaism, Christianity, Islam,
Confucianism, and Hinduism-historically have regarded homosexuality as a sin.
Buddhism is the only major religion that generally has not condemned same sex
relationships although acceptance has varied culturally.
2) Some gay and lesbian people have sought to bring about changes in established
religious denominations’ perceptions of the morality or immorality associated
with gay rights issues (e.g. the Unitarian Universalist Church or the United
Church of Canada); others have formed religious bodies, such as the Metropolitan
Community Church, that focus on the spiritual needs of LGBT communities.
C. Law and Sexual Orientation
1) Canadian citizens are more tolerant of homosexual and bisexual relations than are
U.S. citizens. Over the past four plus decades, Canadians have witnessed, first, the
decriminalization of sexual practices associated with same-sex relations; second,
the inclusion of sexual orientation as a prohibited ground in human rights
legislation; third, the enactment of federal and provincial legislation aimed at
conferring rights on same-sex couples; and fourth, the legalization of same sex
marriage. Currently in Canada, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is
prohibited.
2) Despite the fact that most provinces recently included provisions for same-sex
couples, many advocates believed that until same-sex couples were granted the
right to legally marry, they would not be viewed by society at large as legitimate
and would continue to be disenfranchised from some of the financial and many of
the social benefits enjoyed by heterosexual spouses. Same sex couples now have

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the right to legally marry in Canada with the passage of Bill C-38, marking
Canada as the fourth nation in the world to allow same sex civil marriages.
3) There are critics in gay and lesbian communities who argue that the inclusion of
gays and lesbians in patriarchal institutions (e.g., legal marriage, the church, the
police, the military, etc.) will increase the legitimacy of these fundamentally
hierarchical models and disperse the potential for more radical change.

III. DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION

A. Victimization and Hate Crimes

1) Before the early 1990s, hate crimes against gays and lesbians were not
acknowledged as such, even though civil rights groups had been tracking growing
violence motivated by group prejudice for over a decade. Few acts of violence
against gays and lesbians were ever reported in the media.
2) Hate crimes appear to be most prevalent where homophobic attitudes and
behaviours are tolerated or at least overlooked.
3) In Canada, the British Columbia Hate Crimes Team reported that, of the number
of hate crimes reported to police in the late 1990s, gay males were the most
victimized group in Vancouver.
4) In July 2011, Statistics Canada released a study of hate-motivated crime. While
52 percent of hate crimes are motivated by racism, 18 percent are motivated by
homophobia. What is of particular note, corroborating the findings of the B.C.
Hate Crimes Team over a decade earlier, is that 65 percent of hate crimes based
on sexual orientation are violent crimes, generally assault, and are the most likely
to result in physical injuries.
5) Statistics Canada also found that youth 12 – 17 were most likely group to be
accused of a hate crime, at 38 percent of all accusations. Additionally, research
from Ontario demonstrates that most hate-motivated crime (95 percent) is not
connected with an organized hate group, despite what people may think.

IV. PERSPECTIVES ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND SOCIAL INEQUALITY

A. Interactionist Perspectives
1) Interactionist perspectives focus on heterosexual and homosexual conduct as
learned behaviour and on the process by which people come to identify
themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or straight.
2) Most people acquire the status of heterosexual without being consciously aware
of it because heterosexuality is the established norm, and they do not have to
struggle over their identity. But the same is not true of people who identify
themselves as homosexual or bisexual.
3) Some sociologists suggest that sexual orientation is a master status for many gays,
lesbians, and bisexuals. Master status based on sexual orientation is particularly
significant when it is linked to other subordinate racialized/ethnic group statuses.
For example, working-class gay Latinos are hesitant to “come out” to their
families because of cultural norms pertaining to machismo (masculinity) and fear
that relatives will withdraw the support that is essential for surviving at

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the subordinate end of race and class hierarchies in society.

4) Interactionists have identified three common themes in the process of accepting a
lesbian, gay, or bisexual identity: (1) people first experience identity confusion, a
situation in which they feel different from other people and struggle with
admitting that they are attracted to individuals of the same sex; (2) seeking out
others who are openly lesbian or gay and perhaps engaging in sexual
experimentation or making forays into the homosexual subculture; (3) people
attempt to integrate their self-concept and acceptance of a label such as
“homosexual,” “gay,” or “lesbian” by pursuing a way of life that conforms to
their definition of what those labels mean. Of course, not all people go through all
these stages.
B. Functionalist and Conflict Perspectives
1) Functionalist Perspectives
a. Functionalist perspectives focus on the relationship between social
structure and sexual orientation. To functionalists, social norms and laws
are established to preserve social institutions and maintain stability in
society. From this perspective, many societies punish homosexual conduct
because it violates the social norms established by those societies and thus
undermines the stability of the societies.
b. Critics suggest that the functionalist approach supports the status quo and
ignores a need for more current definitions of marriage and family. If
marriage is understood to be the decision of two people to live together in
a partnership— to be a family—then the intention or the capacity to have
children should not be a condition.
2) Conflict Perspectives
a. The conflict approach focuses on tensions in society and differences in
interests and power among opposing groups. From this perspective,
norms pertaining to compulsory heterosexuality reflect the beliefs of
dominant group members who hold high-level positions in government,
the military, and other social institutions.
b. However, critics assert that the conflict approach fails to recognize that
some persons with wealth and power are gay or lesbian yet take no action
to reduce discrimination based on sexual orientation.
C. Feminist and Postmodern Perspectives
1) Feminist scholars have argued that the fundamental theme is that the primary
oppression for women is being oppressed by men as a social group, and that
heterosexuality, far from being “natural,” is systematically imposed upon women
through various means. This is not to suggest that men, gay men in particular, are
not oppressed by heterosexism or compulsory heterosexuality, but it weighs
particularly on women since men do not need female validation for their identity.
2) Criticisms of this approach argues that it creates guilt and silences heterosexual
feminists. Valverde argues that feminism asserts the right of all women to make
their erotic choices, and this includes choosing men exclusively. Feminism rejects
the hierarchy of sexual practices, and so does not seek to substitute a lesbian
priority for heterosexism. The goal of feminism in the area of sexuality is to
establish true sexual pluralism, where no one choice is presented as “the norm.”

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3) Contemporary feminist scholars increasingly focus on intersectionality,

examining how age, gender, sexual orientation, class come together in personal
identity formation, and on the power of interlocking oppressions, such as ableism,
racism, and heterosexism, for example, to create specific time- and context-
contingent experiences.
4) The main feature of Queer theory is its repudiation, theoretically, of any defining
features, of any “normality” or “fixedness,” and that everything is socially
constructed.
5) Queer theorists view gender and sexuality as performance and refuse to rank any
sex, any gender, or any mode of sexual expression above another.
6) By subverting what is “natural” and “normal,” and making any and every form of
sexuality acceptable, many feminists find Queer theory problematic in that it may
endorse sexual violence, pornography, and other heterosexually eroticized models
of sexuality as “unimportant,” “transitory,” and “provisional.”
7) Also problematic is the use of the term “queer” as a means of self-identification,
by using it as an almost essentialist, but certainly bound or fixed, category.
8) Defining oneself as queer—as “other” from a norm of heterosexuality—may have
concrete consequences such as internalized and external oppression played out in
depression, apathy, and violence. It may also act as a political force in giving
people an identity to rally around and to connect with others through.

V. HOW CAN INEQUALITIES BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION BE REDUCED?

A. According to interactionists, who focus on identity, society should be more accepting of

people as they come to accept their sexual identity and orientation. Various legal and
social barriers should be removed in order to make the coming out process easier.
B. According to functionalists, gay activists’ demands for equal rights are a problem, not a
solution to the issue of sexual orientation. Most functionalists believe homosexuality to
be dysfunctional for society.
C. According to the conflict approach, the best way to reduce inequality based on sexual
orientation is pass laws that ban all forms of discrimination against gay men, lesbians,
and bisexuals and that represent barriers to their equality with heterosexuals.
D. According to feminists, people need to understand their commonalities in the face of
oppression and also need to be clear about their varying positions of privilege in order to
form alliances across location.
E. According to queer theorists, by transgressing gender or sexuality norms (for example,
through cross-dressing), people can flout the norms and demonstrate their arbitrariness
and fluidity and, thereby, have an impact on changing or broadening norms and
definitions. This is typically done on an individual basis, however, making collective
actions difficult to organize.
F. In the 21st century, gay advocacy is perhaps the most effective means of reducing
homophobia and bringing about greater equality for gay men and lesbians.

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ACCESSING THE REAL WORLD: ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH

PROBLEMS RELATED TO INEQUALITY BASED ON SEXUAL
ORIENTATION
Focus on Community Action
Have students visit a LGBTTQ Centre, Safe Spaces, or another organization that seeks to end
homophobia and heterosexism and interview a staff member or volunteer. They should
investigate the resources available in the community for people coming out and for dealing with
homophobia, biphobia, or gay bashing. What have the experiences been like for members of the
LGBTTQ community? What resources are we lacking that could be useful? How can
community members help to end discrimination based on sexual orientation?

Have the students prepare a brief report on their findings to share with the rest of the class. Were
they surprised with anything they found? Why or why not?

Focus on Theoretical Analysis

Have students use feminist and queer theories to analyse gay bashing and hate crimes involving
sexual orientation in the media. Divide the class in to two groups, with one focusing on feminist
theories and one on queer theories. Encourage each student to find news stories from their
province or territory. Look at the relative status of gay men, lesbians, and bisexual people as
depicted in the media. Why is violence against gay men often more prevalent and possibly more
vicious than violence against lesbians? How would each perspective answer these questions?
Refer to Chapter 6 for information on feminist and queer theories.

Students should prepare an overview of their theoretical analysis of gay basing in the media.
Next, meet as a class and compare and contrast feminist and queer theories, citing the advantages
and disadvantages of each for examining issues related to LGBTTQ.

Focus on Media Engagement

Have students analyze television shows with gay and lesbian characters, such as Grey’s
Anatomy, The L Word, or Six Feet Under, to determine how gay men and lesbians are depicted in
mass media. How do societal perceptions about a social issue at a given point in time influence
whether homosexuals are included in the story lines of television shows? Have there been recent
boycotts by religious organizations or other groups regarding the depiction of gay men or
lesbians in the media? What societal issues are taken up by the characters on in these shows?

Ask students to form groups and list positive attributes and characteristics of lesbians or gay men
that were brought out in the shows they watched. Then ask them to list any negative attributes or
stereotypes they saw. How might the depiction of gay men and lesbians reduce stereotypes? How
might it perpetuate them? Which shows depicted a more realistic (e.g. balanced, fully rounded,
diverse) version of gay and lesbian characters? What can we do to encourage television
networks to include a more diverse set of characters on popular television shows?

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APPLYING CRITICAL THINKING THROUGH DISCUSSION

1. What do you think is the most important aspect of identifying a person’s sexual orientation:
their behaviour (e.g. engaging in a homosexual sexual act); their attraction to a person (e.g.
being attracted to or fantasizing about someone of the same sex); or self-identification (e.g.
thinking of oneself as gay or lesbian or bisexual). Why?

2. Recently, some religious organizations have taken stands on specific issues regarding sexual
orientation. Why are issues pertaining to sexual orientation of such importance to religious
organizations? Is it possible to encourage acceptance for people who are different from
oneself without weakening one’s own moral stance on an issue about which individuals feel
strongly? Why or why not?

3. In what ways can we see compulsory heterosexuality in our culture? Have you been
influenced by this? Have other people you now? What would Canada be like if there was no
such thing as compulsory heterosexuality?

4. In watching television media, are shows like Six Feet Under, The L Word, Grey’s Anatomy
and House challenging our stereotypes of gay, lesbian and bisexual people? If so, how? What
is different about the ways LGBT people are portrayed in these shows that has not been
common in tv shows previously?

5. What can be done to decrease victimization and hate crimes against LGBT people? Why do
you think that hate motivated crimes toward LGBT people are more often violent (and more
violent) that hate motivated crimes against any other people (e.g. based on religion,
racialization, and so on)?

6. What types of privileges can heterosexual individuals and/or couples enjoy and take for
granted that homosexual individuals or couples cannot?

7. What kinds of links can be forged between sexism, heterosexism, compulsory heterosexuality
and homophobia?

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AUDIO-VISUAL MEDIA FOR FUTHER EXPLORTION

Escape to Canada—This film is a tongue in cheek look at some consequences of legalizing same
sex marriage and lifting the prohibition on marijuana. 2005. 81 mins. National Film Board of
Canada, www.nfb.ca.

Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives—Nine women paint a portrait of
lesbian sexuality against a backdrop of tabloid headlines, book covers, and dramatizations from
lesbian pulp novels. 1992. 85 mins. National Film Board of Canada, www.nfb.ca.

God’s Dominion—Shepherds to the Flock—Examines the split that has developed within the
United Church of Canada as a result of a 1988 vote to ordain gays and lesbians. 1993. 50 mins.
National Film Board of Canada, www.nfb.ca.
In Other Words—This video explores homophobic language heard in schools and other youth
hangouts. 2001. 27 mins. National Film Board of Canada, www.nfb.ca.

Open Secrets—This provocative documentary uncovers a lost chapter in Canadian military

history: how the Armed Forces dealt with homosexual behaviour among soldiers, during and
after World War II. 2003. 52 mins. National Film Board of Canada, www.nfb.ca.

Out: Stories of Lesbian and Gay Youth—This film examines the emotional, societal and familial
issues of coming out and dealing with homophobia from the perspective of many young people
across Canada. 1993. 79 mins. National Film Board of Canada, www.nfb.ca.

Playing Unfair: The Media Image of the Female Athlete—Coverage of women's sport and how it
lags far behind men's, and focuses on female athletes' femininity and sexuality over their
achievements on the court and field. While female athleticism challenges gender norms, women
athletes continue to be depicted in traditional roles that reaffirm their femininity - as wives and
mothers or sex objects. 2002. 30 mins. Media Education Foundation, www.mediaed.org.

Solo—This video is a self-examination by Atif Siddiqi, as he searches for Mr. Right. The film
celebrates on gay man’s creative journey to self-realization, with or without Mr. Perfect. 2003.
54 mins. National Film Board of Canada, www.nfb.ca.

When Love is Gay—This film explores the myths about gay love. 1995. 48 mins. National Film
Board of Canada, www.nfb.ca.

Why Thee Wed? —this colourful documentary offers diverse perspectives on what it means for
gay and lesbian couples to “walk down the aisle”. 2005. 50 mins. National Film Board of
Canada, www.nfb.ca.

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CRITICAL READINGS
Ahmed, Sara. 2006. Queer Phenomenology: Orientations, Objects, Others. London, GB: Duke
University Press.
Baumgardner, Jennifer. 2007. Look Both Ways: Bisexual Politics. Vancouver, BC: Douglas and
McIntyre.
Blasius, Mark (Ed.). 2001. Sexual Identities—Queer Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press.
Goldie, Terry (Ed.). 2001. In a Queer Country: Gay and Lesbian Studies in the Canadian
Context. Vancouver, BC: Arsenal Pulp Press.
Janoft, Douglas. 2005. Pink Blood: Homophobic Violence in Canada. Ontario: University of
Toronto Press.
Jenness, Valerie and Kendal Broad. 1997. Hate Crimes: New Social Movements and the Politics
of Violence. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter.
Kinsman, Gary. 1996. The Regulation of Desire: Homo and Hetero Sexualities. Second Edition,
Revised. Montreal, PQ: Black Rose Books.
Moore, Nelwyn B., J. Kenneth Davidson, and Terri D. Fisher. 2010. Speaking of Sexuality:
Interdisciplinary Readings. Third Edition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Pascoe, C.J. 2007. Dude, You’re a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School. Berkeley,
California: University of California Press.
Rathus, Spencer A., Jeffrey S. Nevid, Lois Fichner-Rathus, and Edward S. Herold. 2006. Human
Sexuality in a World of Diversity: 2nd Canadian Edition. Toronto, ON: Pearson Inc.

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