Gregory M. Herek

HIV-related stigma and knowledge in the United States: prevalence and trends, 1991-1999.

OBJECTIVES This study assessed the prevalence of AIDS stigma and misinformation about HIV transmission in 1997 and 1999 and examined trends in stigma in the United States during the 1990s. METHODS Telephone surveys with national probability samples of English-speaking adults were conducted in the period 1996 to 1997 (n = 1309) and in 1998 to 1999 (n = 669). Findings were compared with results from a similar 1991 survey. RESULTS Overt expressions of stigma declined throughout the 1990s, with support for its most extreme and coercive forms (e.g., quarantine) at very low levels by 1999. However, inaccurate beliefs about the risks posed by casual social contact increased, as did the belief that people with AIDS (PWAs) deserve their illness. In 1999, approximately one third of respondents expressed discomfort and negative feelings toward PWAs. CONCLUSION Although support for extremely punitive policies toward PWAs has declined, AIDS remains a stigmatized condition in the United States. The persistence of discomfort with PWAs, blame directed at PWAs for their condition, and misapprehensions about casual social contact are cause for continuing concern and should be addressed in HIV prevention and education programs.

Some of My Best Friends Intergroup Contact, Concealable Stigma, and Heterosexuals' Attitudes Toward Gay Men and Lesbians

In a two-wave national telephone survey, a probability sample of English-speaking adults indicated their attitudes toward gay men at Wave 1 (1990-91; n = 538) and toward both gay men and lesbians approximately 1 year later (n = 382 at Wave 2). At Wave 1, heterosexuals reporting interpersonal contact (31.3%) manifested more positive attitudes toward gay men than those without contact. Their attitudes were more favorable to the extent that they reported more relationships, closer relationships, and receiving direct disclosure about anothers homosexuality. At Wave 2, these findings were generally replicated for attitudes toward lesbians as well as gay men. Cross-wave analyses suggest a reciprocal relationship between contact and attitudes. Theoretical and policy implications of the results are discussed, with special attention to the role of interpersonal disclosure in reducing stigma based on a concealable status.

Hate Crimes and Stigma-Related Experiences Among Sexual Minority Adults in the United States: Prevalence Estimates From a National Probability Sample

Using survey responses collected via the Internet from a U.S. national probability sample of gay, lesbian, and bisexual adults (N = 662), this article reports prevalence estimates of criminal victimization and related experiences based on the targets sexual orientation. Approximately 20% of respondents reported having experienced a person or property crime based on their sexual orientation; about half had experienced verbal harassment, and more than 1 in 10 reported having experienced employment or housing discrimination. Gay men were significantly more likely than lesbians or bisexuals to experience violence and property crimes. Employment and housing discrimination were significantly more likely among gay men and lesbians than among bisexual men and women. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.

Interpersonal contact and heterosexuals’ attitudes toward gay men: Results from a national survey

The association between heterosexuals’ attitudes toward gay men and their interpersonal contact experiences with a lesbian or gay person was examined with data from a national AIDS telephone survey with a probability sample of English‐speaking adults in the United States (n = 937). When asked whether any friends or relatives had “let you know that they were homosexual,” approximately one‐third of the respondents gave an affirmative answer. Regression analyses indicated that interpersonal contact predicted attitudes toward gay men better than did any other demographic or social psychological variable included in the equation. Interpersonal contact was more likely to be reported by respondents who were highly educated, politically liberal, young, and female. The data indicate that interpersonal contact is strongly associated with positive attitudes toward gay men and that heterosexuals with characteristics commonly associated with positive attitudes are more likely than others to be the recipients of disclo...

Heterosexuals' attitudes toward bisexual men and women in the United States

This paper examines heterosexual adults’ attitudes toward bisexual men and women using data from a 1999 national RDD survey (N = 1,335). Ratings on 101‐point feeling thermometers were lower (less favorable) for bisexual men and bisexual women than for all other groups assessed—including religious, racial, ethnic, and political groups—except injecting drug users. More negative attitudes toward bisexuals were associated with higher age, less education, lower annual income, residence in the South and rural areas, higher religiosity, political conservatism, traditional values concerning gender and sexual behavior, authoritarianism, and lack of contact with gay men or lesbians. White heterosexual women expressed significantly more favorable attitudes than other women and all men. A gender difference was observed in attitudes toward bisexuals and homosexuals: Heterosexual women rated bisexuals significantly less favorably than they rated homosexuals, regardless of gender, whereas heterosexual men rated male targets less favorably than female targets, regardless of whether the target was bisexual or homosexual.

Black heterosexuals’ attitudes toward lesbians and gay men in the United States

Although the direction and intensity of Black heterosexuals’ attitudes toward homosexuality have been topics for considerable speculation, empirical data from representative samples previously have not been available. In the current article we report findings from a two‐wave telephone survey with a national probability sample of 391 Black heterosexual adults. Results indicated that negative attitudes toward homosexuality are widespread but do not appear to be more prevalent among Blacks than among Whites. Gender differences in Black heterosexuals’ attitudes (mens attitudes toward gay men were more negative than their attitudes toward lesbians or womens attitudes toward gay men) appeared to result primarily from mens greater tendency to regard male homosexuality as unnatural. The single most important predictor of attitudes was the attribution of choice to sexual orientation: Respondents who believed that homosexuality is beyond an individuals control expressed significantly more favorable attitudes to...

AIDS Stigma and Sexual Prejudice

This article presents national survey data to assess the extent to which AIDS-related stigma remains linked to public attitudes toward homosexuality in the United States. Most heterosexuals continue to associate AIDS primarily with homosexuality or bisexuality, and this association is correlated with higher levels of sexual prejudice (antigay attitudes). Although all people who contract AIDS sexually are assigned blame for their infection, such blame is greater for a gay or bisexual man than for a heterosexual man or woman. A sizable minority of the public equates all male-male sexual behavior with AIDS, even sex between two HIV-negative men. A substantial portion also expresses discomfort about touching an article of clothing or drinking from a sterilized glass used by a person with AIDS (PWA). These misconceptions and discomfort are correlated with sexual prejudice. It is argued that the link between AIDS attitudes and sexual prejudice impedes HIV prevention efforts and threatens civil rights.

Hate crimes : confronting violence against lesbians and gay men

Foreword - The Honorable John Conyers Jr Introduction Survivors Story - Claudia Brenner Eight Bullets PART ONE: AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROBLEM Anti-Gay Violence and Victimizaton in the United States - Kevin T Berrill An Overview Trends in Violence and Discrimination Against Gay Men in New York City - Laura Dean, Shanyu Wu and John L Martin 1984 to 1990 Violence in the Streets - Beatrice von Schulthess Anti-Lesbian Assault and Harassment in San Francisco Violence Against Lesbian and Gay Male Youths - Joyce Hunter Survivors Story - Bob Gravel PART TWO: THE CONTEXT The Social Context of Hate Crimes - Gregory M Herek Notes on Cultural Heterosexism The Ecology of Anti-Gay Violence - Howard J Ehrlich Conceptualizing Anti-Gay Violence - Joseph Harry Thinking More Clearly About Hate-Motivated Crimes - Richard A Berk, Elizabeth A Boyd and Karl M Hamner Survivors Story - William Edward Hassel PART THREE: PERPETRATORS Psychological Heterosexism and Anti-Gay Violence - Gregory M Herek The Social Psychology of Bigotry and Bashing Kids Who Attack Gays - Eric Weissman Gay-Bashing - Karl M Hamner A Social Identity Analysis of Violence Against Lesbians and Gay Men The Gay Bashers - Michael Collins Survivors Story - Kathleen Sarris PART FOUR: SURVIVING AND RESPONDING Violence and Victimization of Lesbians and Gay Men - Linda Garnets, Gregory M Herek and Barrie Levy Mental Health Consequences Treatment and Service Interventions for Lesbian and Gay Male Crime Victims - David M Wertheimer The Community Response to Violence in San Francisco - Gregory M Herek An Interview with Wenny Kusuma, Lester Olmstead-Rose and Jill Tregor Organizing Against Hate on Campus - Kevin T Berrill Strategies for Activists Documenting the Victimization of Lesbians and Gay Men - Gregory M Herek and Kevin T Berrill Methodological Issues PART FIVE: IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY Primary and Secondary Victimization in Anti-Gay Hate Crimes - Kevin T Berrill and Gregory M Herek Official Response and Public Policy

The Context of Anti-Gay Violence Notes on Cultural and Psychological Heterosexism

Hate crimes against lesbians and gay men occur within a broader cultural context that is permeated by heterosexism. Heterosexism is defined here as an ideological system that denies, denigrates, and stigmatizes any nonheterosexual form of behavior, identity, relationship, or community. It operates principally by rendering homosexuality invisible and, when this fails, by trivializing, repressing, or stigmatizing it. This article focuses upon the nexus between cultural heterosexism and individual prejudice against lesbians and gay men. Key components of the ideologies of sex and gender from which heterosexism derives are identified: (a) the personal-public dichotomy, (b) the stigmatization of particular forms of sexuality, and (c) the linkage of heterosexuality to gender-role conformity. Supported by these ideological underpinnings, cultural heterosexism fosters individual anti-gay attitudes by providing a ready-made system of values and stereotypical beliefs that justify such prejudice as “natural.” By imbuing homosexuality with a variety of symbolic meanings, cultural heterosexism enables expressions of individual prejudice to serve various psychological functions. Further, by discouraging lesbians and gay men from coming out to others, heterosexism perpetuates itself. Recent social trends that may affect the ideology of heterosexism are identified, and their potential for reducing anti-gay prejudice is discussed.

Religious Orientation and Prejudice A Comparison of Racial and Sexual Attitudes

Past research on the relationship between religious orientation and prejudice against out-groups has focused on racism. A greater tendency toward racist attitudes has been found among persons with an external religious orientation, whereas an intrinsic orientation has sometimes been associated with tolerance. This study examined the influence of religious orientation on attitudes toward an out-group not widely accepted by contemporary religions: lesbians and gay men. Using questionnaire data from white, heterosexual students on four university campuses, an extrinsic orientation was found to be positively correlated with racism, while an intrinsic orientation was not. Intrinsics, however, tended to be more prejudiced against gay people than were extrinsics. It is suggested that an intrinsic orientation does not foster unequivocal acceptance of others but instead encourages tolerance toward specific groups that are accepted by contemporary Judeo-Christian teachings. The hypothesis is discussed that attitudes toward outgroups serve different psychological functions for persons with extrinsic and intrinsic orientations.