Gay Men and Lesbians' Experiences in and Expectations for Interactions with Heterosexuals

Abstract

We analyzed 97 gay men's and lesbians' experiences with and expectations for interactions with majority group members. Respondents described reactions to previous or imagined future interactions with an unfamiliar heterosexual person who had just become aware that the respondent was lesbian or gay. Results indicated that respondents are more proactive than reactive (in contrast to expectation states theories), that the contact hypothesis can be appropriately applied to this group, even though the formulation of the theory was based upon negative attitudes in the absence of extensive contact, and that they have different reactions for people of different prejudice levels, rather than being globally suspicious, as is predicted by many intergroup theories. Future research should direct more attention to the stigmatized group members' attitudes about and reactions toward the majority group.

What does it mean to be an ally?: The perception of allies from the perspective of people of color

“…Allies have been the focus of research and theories in a number of different domains, including higher education (e.g., Reason & Broido, ), work organizations (Brooks & Edwards, ), preservice teacher training (Clark, ), and mental health professional training (Borgman, ; Dillon et al., ; Smith & Redington, ). The majority of the ally literature to date has addressed heterosexual allies to LGBT people (e.g., Conley, Calhoun, Evett, & Devine, ; Conley, Devine, Rabow, & Evett, ), but there is additional work on nondisabled allies to people with disabilities (e.g., Ostrove, Cole, et al., ; Ostrove & Crawford, ; Ostrove, Oliva, et al., ), men acting as allies to women concerning issues of rape (e.g., Casey & Smith, ; Fabiano, Perkins, Berkowitz, Linkenbach, & Stark, ), and White allies to people of color (e.g., Kivel, ). Across these various settings and identities, allies are generally conceived as dominant group members who work to end prejudice in their personal and professional lives, and relinquish social privileges conferred by their group status through their support of nondominant groups (Broido, ; Reason, Millar, & Scales, ; Washington & Evans, ).…”

“…Though consensus is present in the allies literature on what qualities these individuals may possess, few empirical studies have been conducted to discern the characteristics of allies. Furthermore, with few exceptions (e.g., Conley et al., ; Ostrove, Oliva, et al., ), studies of allies have not been conducted from the perspective of nondominant group members. Most studies of allies, especially those focused on race, utilize small samples of dominant group members.…”

Heterosexuals’ acceptance predicts the well-being of same-sex attracted young adults beyond ingroup support

“…Conversely, evidence suggests that sexual minorities utilize an array of active strategies when dealing with intergroup interactions (Conley, Devine, Rabow, & Evett, 2002). What we hope this study does convey is that due to the somewhat isolating nature of a person's nonheterosexuality, the roots of well-being for same-sex attracted young people go beyond having access to their like-minded peers.…”

Impact of a Homonegativity Awareness Workshop on Attitudes Toward Homosexuality

“…To our knowledge, no existing research addresses this question. A related problem in the literature is that only a few studies (e.g., Conley, Calhoun, Evett, & Devine, 2001;Conley, Devine, Rabow, & Evett, 2002) are concerned with how LGB persons are affected by negative attitudes of heterosexuals; pursuing this avenue could provide even more resources for designing effective homonegativity reduction interventions. Well-designed panels, workshops, and other interventions can create an environment in which the attitudes that foster hate-motivated crimes are unacceptable.…”