Page 215 - Microaggressions in Everyday Live Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

From Overt Anti-GLBT Sentiments to Invisible Heterosexism 189

crime laws, but more than anything else brought to the forefront the horrors of the
extremes of hostile prejudice and anti - GLBT attitudes in our society.

Explicit and Overt Discrimination against LGBTs

Hate crimes and anti - GLBT harassment are lived realities for this group,
and some believe that such incidents are on the rise. FBI statistics indicate that
the incidence of hate crimes against LGBTs have increased over the recent
years: 1,017 in 2005, 1,195 in 2006, and 1,265 in 2007 (Hansen - Weaver, 2009).
In a University of California – Davis News and Information report (2007) the
following statistics were found: (1) It was reported that nearly 40% of gay
men and 12 to 13% of lesbians and bisexuals in the United States have been
targets of violence or property crime because of their sexual orientation.
(2) Across all groups (gays, lesbians, and bisexuals), violence included physi-
cal assaults, sexual assaults, thefts, and vandalism. (3) In addition, 49% reported
incidents of verbal abuse, 23% reported threats of violence, 12.5% had objects
thrown at them, and 11% reported housing and job discrimination. (d) Gay
men reported experiencing higher numbers of incidences of harassment,
violent crimes, and hate crimes than lesbians or bisexuals.
These facts are alarming because they give us a disturbing view of the
constant threat of interpersonal, property, and verbal/nonverbal abuse and
violence that LGBTs must experience in their daily lives. To be under constant
threat to one ’ s physical safety and psychological well - being is to live a life

of perpetual fear, guardedness, and vigilance. These findings seem to fl y in
the face of a belief in the increasing tolerance of LGBTs in our society. Some
speculate, however, that with increasing acceptance has come an increase in
right - wing groups who have used the legislative route to reenergize anti - LGBT
sentiments (Hansen - Weaver, 2009). The Defense of Marriage Act passed
during the Clinton administration, anti - gay propositions 22 and 8 (defi ning
marriage as only between a man and woman) in California, and other antigay
legislation have allowed not only overt anti - GLBT prejudices to emerge, but
also hidden and unconscious biases of the general population that portray
LGBT people as immoral, sinful, and lesser beings. Such legislation is often
based upon rationalizations that allow the population to act in a discriminatory
manner while masking their conscious and unconscious biases.
Overt and open displays of anti - LGBT attitudes and discrimination can
take many forms, such as antigay laws, threat of physical violence, verbal,
nonverbal, and environmental harassment. Hate speech, negative portrayals

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