Illustrations of Benevolent and Hostile Heterosexism in LGBTQ+ People’s Lives

Abstract

In this study, we aimed to define heterosexism—a form of sexual stigma that accounts for interpersonal attitudes and institutionalized ideology—in a multi-dimensional way, centering on LGBTQ+ people’s experiences. We draw from an ambivalent theory of prejudice and focus on heterosexism, or an ideology that stigmatizes nonheterosexual behaviors, identities, relationships, and communities. We aimed to learn how LGBTQ+ people would narrate their experiences of heterosexism within a benevolent and hostile framing. In a qualitative online study, LGBTQ+ participants (N = 77; 49% White) reviewed definitions of and recalled encounters with benevolent and hostile heterosexism, providing examples of how heterosexism manifests in their lives. In our analysis, we identified themes of benevolent (positive stereotypes, assumptions of heterosexuality, conditional “acceptance”) and hostile heterosexism (verbal and physical violence, invalidation, hostile ideologies). We discuss the utility of an ambivalent prejudice framework for understanding heterosexism that builds from LGBTQ+ people’s accounts.