Handouts and Information

What is an Ally? | Developing a Common Language | Gay and Lesbian Identity Development | Heterosexual Questionaire
Heterosexual Privilege | Trans Definitions | Overview of the Transgender World
The Intersexed Condition | What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality | Choosing a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual-Affirming Therapist

 

Heterosexual Privilege

I have heterosexual privilege if….

1. I can, if I wish, legally marry my life partner.
2. I can, if I wish, have public recognition and support for my intimate relationship.
3. I have and can receive cards or phone calls celebrating my commitment to another person.
4. I can, if I wish, kiss my partner and show affection on the street without being conscious of what others may think or do to us.
5. I can, if I wish, easily talk about my relationship with anyone.
6. I don’t have others or myself question my normalcy.
7. I can, if I wish, show pain and get support when a relationship ends.
8. I can, if I wish, have children without any questions.
9. I can, if I wish, be open, without hesitation, about apartment or house hunting with my significant other.
10. I can, if I wish, choose not to do something if it means others may think it makes me gay or lesbian.
11. I am validated by my religion.
12. I am socially accepted by my neighbors without question.
13. I have accepted paid leave from my employment when my partner was sick or in need of my assistance.
14. I am comfortable and accepted in my children’s school, with my children’s teachers and school activities.
15. I can, if I wish, dress however I want without worrying about what it represents.
16. I can, if I wish, have in-laws.
17. Under probate law, I can, if I wish, inherit from my partner/lover/companion.
18. I can share health, auto and homeowner’s insurance policies at reduced rates.
19. I can, if I wish, be employed as a teacher in a pre-school through high school without fear of being fired any day because I am assumed to corrupt children.
20. I can, if I wish, raise children without threats of state intervention, without children having to be worried which of their friends might reject them because of their parent’s sexuality and culture.
21. I can and have dated the person I desired in my teenage years.
22. I don’t have to lie about my social activities.
23. I can, if I wish, work without being identified by my sexuality and culture (e.g., I get to be the farmer, the artist, the professor without being labeled the heterosexual farmer, the heterosexual artist, etc.).
24. My sexual orientation is represented in the media and I don’t feel excluded.
25. I can, if I wish, share holidays with my lover and families without question or rejection.
26. I don’t have to explain or justify my sexual orientation.
27. I don’t have to be nervous about talking to my family and friends about my sexual orientation.
28. I don’t feel compelled to disprove myths of my own heterosexuality.
29. I don’t have to fear that my sexuality may become a major point in a smear campaign that may affect the custody of my child, the job I want, the house I want to buy, the way I am treated by my neighbors and family.
30. I automatically have custody of my own children if my partner dies.
31. I can, if I wish, easily visit my partner/spouse in the case of hospitalization without lying or without question.
32. I am accepted by society as a heterosexual person, not just tolerated.