Gay and Lesbian Studies

WHAT ARE YOUR BELIEFS ABOUT GAYS AND LESBIANS?
The following are common, normal feeling often experienced when a relationship.
Does being "different" sound like a positive or a negative experience to you? For gays and
lesbians, daily living can be a frustrating and painful experience in our society. Because they are
different in their sexual orientation, gays and lesbians have been oppressed. They suffer social,
religious, economic, political and legal discrimination. Much of this discrimination is based on
the myths people believe about gays and lesbians. For gays and lesbians to be treated equally in
our society, we need to dispel these myths. What is most needed is the elimination of the
irrational fear and hatred some people have for intimate, same-sex relationships. This irrational
fear and hatred is called homophobia.
MYTH #1
It's OK to call gays and lesbians names like "queer," "faggot," and "dyke" because they are
"deviant."
Fact: A gay man or lesbian is someone whose primary sexual and affectional preference is for a
member of his or her own sex. This is different from the statistical norm, but difference does not
equal deviance. If it did, blue-eyed people and left-handed people, who are also in the statistical
minority, would be considered deviant. Male homosexuals generally prefer to be called "gays,"
while female homosexuals generally prefer to be called "lesbians," although the term "gay" is
often acceptable for both sexes. To be called "queer, "faggot" or "dyke" is derogatory and may
be insulting.
MYTH #2
Gays and lesbians are mentally ill.
Fact: Homosexuality is considered normal in most of the world's cultures. In 1973, the
American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders and
declared that homosexuality is as healthy as heterosexuality. Like anyone else, however, gays
and lesbians can become maladjusted when they are treated with hostility.
MYTH #3
Gays and lesbians are not "normal."
Fact: Sexual behavior and orientation exist along a continuum that ranges from people who are
exclusively attracted to members of the same sex, to people who are equally attracted to
members of both sexes, to people who are exclusively attracted to members of the opposite sex.
All are normal.
MYTH #4
Gays and lesbians are few in number and "hide out" in careers like theater, interior design and
cosmetology.
Fact: A generally accepted statistic is that approximately one in 10 persons is gay or lesbian.
Gays and lesbians are found in all walks of life and in all professions. For example, consider the
following professional associations: the National Lawyers Guild Gay Caucus, the Association of
Gay Psychologists, the Gay Nurses Association, the Association of Gay Seminarians and Clergy,
the Gay Airline Pilots Association, and the Gay Prize Fighters of America Association, to name
but a few.
MYTH #5
Gay men like to dress as women; gay men wish they were women and lesbians wish they were
men.
Fact: Gay men and lesbians, for the most part, are comfortable with their identities as men and
women and have no desire to change their sex.
MYTH #6
Gays and lesbians are a menace to children.
Fact: The overwhelming majority of child molestation cases 95 percent involves heterosexual
men and is committed against females under the age of 18.
MYTH #7
Gays and lesbians are promiscuous.
Fact: Homosexuals are neither more nor less sexually promiscuous than heterosexuals. Like
heterosexuals, many gays and lesbians are involved in monogamous relationships, considering
themselves partners and committed to each other for life. Some gays and lesbians may also
choose to remain celibate, and others may have multiple partners, just as some heterosexuals do.
MYTH #8
Parents cause their children to become gay or lesbian.
Fact: Reasons that a particular sexual orientation develops are unknown. Current research
indicates that it is a very complex matter that involves both biological and environmental
influences. Just as we cannot explain what makes some people heterosexual, we do not
understand what makes other people gay or lesbian.
MYTH #9
If a gay or lesbian could just meet the "right" member of the opposite sex, then he or she could
fall in love and be "cured."
Fact: Many gays and lesbians have dated members of the opposite sex but find it more fulfilling
to date members of their own sex. Most gays and lesbians have no desire to change their sexual
orientation. Those who do are usually reacting to negative societal attitudes toward
homosexuality.
MYTH #10
If a friend tells you he or she is gay, then that friend is coming on to you.
Fact: Being gay involves more than a person's sexual activity. When friends "come out" (reveal
their homosexuality) to you, they are essentially inviting you to know them as whole people. If a
gay person chooses to come out to you, then that person has decided to share part of his or her
identity with you. Such a disclosure means only that this friend trusts you, not that he or she
would like to become sexually involved with you.
MYTH #11
If you have friends who are gay or lesbian, that must mean you are also gay.
Fact: Liking or loving someone who is gay or lesbian does not make you gay any more than
liking someone who is Catholic or Jewish makes you Catholic or Jewish.
MYTH #12
AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is a gay disease.
Fact: AIDS is caused by a virus. Viruses infect all kinds of people, regardless of their sexual
orientation. AIDS is spread through the exchange of bodily fluids, such as blood, semen and
breast milk. Some people have contracted AIDS from sharing intravenous needles. While AIDS
has been contracted by a large number of gay men, it has also been contracted by heterosexual
men and women as well as and children and even infants. Associating with gays does not mean
you will get AIDS. For further information about AIDS, contact Aids Community Services (847-
2441 or 847-AIDS) or the National Gay Task Force Hotline (1-800-221-7044).
READINGS
Books:
• A Family Matter, Charles Silverstein
• Are You Still My Mother? Are You Still My Family? Gloria Guss Back
• Coming Out Right, Wes Huchmore and William Hanson
• Living Gay, Don Clark
• Loving Someone Gay, Don Clark
• Now That You Know, Betty Fairchild
• Our Right to Love: A Lesbian Resource Book, Ginny Vida (editor)
• Permanent Partners, Betty Berzon
• Positively Gay, Betty Berzon and Robert Laughton
• Rubyfruit Jungle, Rita Mae Brown
• Society and the Healthy Homosexual, George Weinberg
• The Beauty Queen, Patricia Neil Warren
• The Front Runner, Patricia Neil Warren
• The Joy of Gay Sex, Charles Silverstein and Edmund White
• The Joy of Lesbian Sex, Emily Sisley and Bertha Harris
Periodicals:
• 10 Percent
• Christopher Street
• Deneuve
• Empathy
• Genre
• Good Times
• Out
• Outlook
• The Advocate
"Coming Out to Your Parents,"
Parents FLAG
P. O. Box 15711
Philadelphia PA 19103
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