User:Hmorgank

= Heterosexual Privilege = Heterosexual Privilege comes from the ideas of Heteronormativity which describes a set of norms and assumptions pertaining to heterosexual identities and binary gender.

To be privilege d is to have unearned institutionalized entitlements and advantages. Heterosexual Privilege is a structure that is interlocked with male privilege and white privilege. As with male, and white privilege it is a phenomenon that has the collateral impact of putting others at a disadvantage. These advantages, like other forms of privilege, are often invisible to the recipients. The heterosexual individuals benefit from this phenomenon enjoying advantages they are often unaware of that are made available to them by their sexual orientation. The foremost example of this privilege is the terminology referring to anyone who isn't heterosexual can be problematic and controversial. The terms used carry stereotypes and prejudices, where as to be straight is considered natural, and neutral.

Productions such as literature, and other forms of cultural production and work contexts are important sites wherein heterosexuality is reproduced as privileged and ‘natural’ and, thus, established as normative.

Stephanie Wildman’s work Privilege Revealed: How Invisible Preference Undermines America offers an in-depth analysis of how scholars must focus on privilege rather than solely on discrimination if we are to understand racism and hierarchy, and notes that when one is privileged it is hard to see, even for people of good will.

It is easiest for the individuals in dominant groups to be viewed as good. As the dominant group they are the ones determining 'good'. The structural privilege is the fact that: the more you have, the less you have to fight for it.

[Heterosexual Privilege]];

Heterosexual Privilege Checklist:
People who are, or who identify as heterosexual, are privileged in current society in ways that range from small conveniences to personal safety issues. In the compiled Heterosexual Privilege Checklist[7], the content and form are based on the list within Peggy MacIntosh’s article White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. Daily human rights issues are outlined in a list of privileges that a heterosexual person would take for granted. McIntosh's work helps to identify the notion of gender and race privilege, and their unnamed benefits. By outlining it in this way each of the listed expectations reveals a problem for the LGBT community that may not be considered. This list is a useful tool for heterosexual people trying to understand the struggles they do not experience.

Below is a compilation of these privileges:


 * 1) I can be pretty sure that my co-workers, friends, family, roommates, and classmates will be comfortable with my sexual orientation.
 * 2) If I pick up a magazine, watch TV, or play music, I can be certain my sexual orientation will be represented.
 * 3) When I talk about my heterosexuality (such as in a joke or talking about my relationships), I will not be accused of pushing my sexual orientation onto others.
 * 4) I do not have to fear that if my family or friends find out about my sexual orientation there will be economic, emotional, physical or psychological consequences.
 * 5) I did not grow up with games that attack my sexual orientation
 * 6) I am not accused of being abused, warped or psychologically confused because of my sexual orientation.
 * 7) I can go home from most meetings, classes, and conversations without feeling excluded, fearful, attacked, isolated, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance, stereotyped or feared because of my sexual orientation.
 * 8) I can be sure that my classes will require curricular materials that testify to the existence of people with my sexual orientation.
 * 9) People don't ask why I made my choice to be public about my sexual orientation.
 * 10) I do not have to fear revealing my sexual orientation to friends or family. It's assumed.
 * 11) My sexual orientation was never associated with a closet.
 * 12) People of my gender do not try to convince me to change my sexual orientation.
 * 13) I don't have to defend my heterosexuality.
 * 14) I can easily find a religious community that will not exclude me for being heterosexual.
 * 15) I can count on finding a therapist or doctor willing and able to talk about my sexuality.
 * 16) I am guaranteed to find sex education literature for couples with my sexual orientation.
 * 17) I do not need to worry that people will harass me because of my sexual orientation.
 * 18) I have no need to qualify my straight identity.
 * 19) My masculinity/femininity is not challenged because of my sexual orientation.
 * 20) I am not identified by my sexual orientation.
 * 21) If my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it has sexual orientation overtones.
 * 22) I am guaranteed to find people of my sexual orientation represented in the workplace or universities curriculum, faculty, and administration.
 * 23) I can walk in public with my significant other and not have people doubletake or stare.
 * 24) I can choose to not think politically about my sexual orientation.
 * 25) I can remain oblivious of the language and culture of LGBT folk without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.
 * 26) I can go for months without being called straight.
 * 27) My individual behavior does not reflect on people who identity as heterosexual.
 * 28) In everyday conversation, the language my friends and I use generally assumes my sexual orientation. For example, sex inappropriately is referring to only heterosexual sex or family meaning heterosexual relationships with kids.
 * 29) People do not assume I am experienced in sex or that I even have it merely because of my sexual orientation.
 * 30) I can kiss a person of the opposite gender without being watched and stared at.
 * 31) Nobody calls me straight with maliciousness.
 * 32) People can use terms that describe my sexual orientation and mean positive things (i.e., "straight as an arrow", "standing up straight" or "straightened out") instead of demeaning terms (i.e, "that's gay" or being "queer").
 * 33) I am not asked to think about why I am straight.
 * 34) I can be open about my sexual orientation without worrying about my job.
 * 35) I can, if I wish, arrange to be in the company of people of my sexuality most of the time.
 * 36) I can, if I wish, expose my sexuality as a member of the armed services without fear of dischargement.
 * 37) If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to my sexual orientation.
 * 38) I can be sure that I will not be denied the right to marry whomever I choose to because of my sexual orientation.
 * 39) I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my sexuality widely represented.
 * 40) When I am told about our national heritage or about “civilization”, I am shown that people of my sexual orientation made it what it is.
 * 41) I can be pretty sure that I can adopt children.
 * 42) I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of my sexuality.
 * 43) I can be sure I will not be denied insurance, employment, or credit due to my sexuality.
 * 44) I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them because of my sexuality.
 * 45) I do not have 'closet' anxiety.
 * 46) I can publicly display my affection to my loved one without fear of harassment or attack.
 * 47) My sexual orientation is honestly portrayed in the media.
 * 48) I am never asked to speak for all the people of my sexuality.
 * 49) I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to “the person in charge”, I will be facing a person of my sexuality.
 * 50) I don’t have to hide my sexuality in certain situations for personal safety.
 * 51) I can leave a nightclub consisting mostly of people of my sexuality knowing I will not get harassed or attacked for my sexuality.
 * 52) I can reference my sexuality to someone without fear of negative consequences.
 * 53) I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my sexuality will not work against me and that my partner will be able to visit me.

Marriage
See (Relation to marriage and the nuclear family).

Married heterosexuals have such advantages which include the right to sue based on the wrongful death of a partner, access to employer-based health and retirement benefits, the ability to sponsor a partner’s immigration application, and the ability to make medical decisions for an incompetent partner.

Same-sex marriage was made legal in the UK in 2014 and in Canada in 2005. In 2015 a divided U.S. Supreme Court released a landmark opinion giving same-sex couples the right to marry nationwide, establishing a new civil right and handing gay rights advocates a historic victory. The legalization for same-sex marriages is an on-going movement, and there are currently 76 countries where homosexuality is still illegal.

Where same-sex marriage has not been legalized partners do not have the authority and legal rights of married heterosexual couples.

Surveys
Heterosexuality is the assumed identification of participants in surveys and studies. In 2015 the annual Sex, Drugs and Rock'n'Roll study  received feedback determining most non-heteronormative participants indicated heteronormativity affects their lives in multiple ways, noting its impacts on access to sexual healthcare, invalidating sexual experiences and miscommunication in forms and surveys. The structure of the surveys needed to change for sexual health research to avoid assumptions about behaviour, to be clear, eliminate ambiguity, and avoiding treating gender and sexuality as binarybinary. Participants found that though the study aimed at being comprehensive it contained heteronormative language and treating sexuality as a binary, and that studies need to focus on a range of sexual behaviours and experiences. research is "the systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions" and in this case needs to be more inclusive to ensure data collection from participants is conclusive.

Workplace
According to Gay Male Academics in UK Business and Management Schools: Negotiating Heteronormativities in Everyday Work Life  employment experiences and the discourses within the LGBT communities in business and management schools need to challenge heteronormativity within work and academic contexts. The men in the business world are pressured to conform to heteronormative behavioural standards. The heteronormative bias within the literature on business and management schools remained unchallenged, reproducing a heterosexual/homosexual binary  that posits heterosexuality as a normative standard by which other sexualities are judged and found wanting or excluded and silenced. Assumptions of heterosexuality as natural and privileged obscure the fact that LGBT people are an important constituency of business and management schools. Study findings call for pedagogical and research practices that disrupt management knowledge and the heterosexual/homosexual binary, enabling non-heteronormative voices, perspectives, identities and ways of relating to emerge in business and management schools.

Heteronormativity maintains damaging binaries within institutions, structures of understanding, and practical orientations that make heterosexuality privileged. Assumptions of heterosexuality as natural and privileged obscure the fact that LGBT people are an important constituency of people who must negotiate the norms, values and practices of knowledge coded in heteronormativity.

Adoption
Adoption is the legal and permanent transfer of parental rights from a person or couple to another person or couple. Adoptive parents have the same responsibilities and legal rights as the rights biological parents have for their own child. (See: Adoption)

Different regulations, laws, and costs are associated with different kinds of adoption and adoption in different countries.

Adoption regulations are (see LGBT adoption) becoming more inclusive for same-sex parents. Each state has its own laws, rules, and regulations pertaining to gay adoption. Concerns of abuse and impediments for a growing child are being studied and disproven as more instances of children raised by LGBT parents come of age, though some argue that having LGBT parents may subject children to the prejudices their parents face. Researchers have found that the level in which the kids that are taunted does not affect their overall adjustment and relationships with their peers. As of this last decade, an estimated 6 to 14 million children in the USA have a gay or lesbian parent. And, between 8 and 10 million children are being raised in gay and lesbian households. The time it takes to adopt depends on a number of variables, including whether pre-adoption classes are required, how long it takes to complete your home study, and how long it takes to find the right child for your family.

The recommendations that are made for same-sex couples for preparing their child to talk about their family situation and adoption are different than the recommendations for straight couples.

Some of these recommendations include: Even after the studies show that same-sex couples are capable of being parents of equal capability as heterosexual couples there are still many states that limit or prohibit adoption by LGBT individuals or couples.
 * prepare your child to handle questions and comments about their background or family.
 * Allow for open communication and discussions that are appropriate to your child's age and level of maturity.
 * Help your child come up with and practice appropriate responses to teasing or mean remarks.
 * Use books, websites, and movies that show children in LGBT families.
 * Consider having a support network for your child. (For example, having your child meet other children with gay parents.)
 * Consider living in a community where diversity is more accepted.

1. Arizona gives a preference to married couples over a single adult in adoption placement.

2. A Kentucky court has said that the state does not permit unmarried couples to use the stepparent adoption procedures.

3. Mississippi prohibits "[a]doption by couples of the same gender."

4. Nebraska does not permit second parent or co-parent adoption.

5. North Carolina does not allow second parent or co-parent adoption.

6. Ohio does not permit second parent or co-parent adoption.

7. Utah prohibits anyone cohabiting in a non-marital sexual relationship from adopting. Utah also gives a preference to married couples over any single adult in adoptions or foster care placement.

8. Wisconsin does not permit second parent or co-parent adoption.

Heterosexual couples are able to co-parent adopt in every state.

Custody
To determine child custody, in same sex couples where, both parents are biological parents or adoptive parents, the parents will work with a mediator, and if necessary go to court. In all cases custody battles have a precedent.

The United States uses the Convention on the Rights of the Child drawn up buy the United Nations.

The following articles for child custody are the primary criteria:

Article 3: The child resides in accordance with the best interest of the child.

Article 9: The child's right not be separated from his or her parents against the child's will.

Article 10: If the parents live in different countries, the child has the right to maintain regular direct contact with both parents. All countries are obliged to cooperate to give the child free access and exit of the country for family reunification purposes.

In same-sex couples in America you may both be legal parents if: In many states, second parents have no rights whatsoever, and cannot seek either legal or physical custody. Often, there is no way to seek visitation. These parents also rarely have any financial obligations to the adoptive parent.
 * The child was born into a marriage, registered domestic partnership, or civil union in a state where the relationship confers parental rights on a nonbiological parent.
 * The nonbiological or nonadoptive parent adopted the child through a second-parent or stepparent adoption, or established a parent-child relationship through a parentage action.
 * The child was jointly adopted.

Freedom of Religion
Within religious sects straight couples have been, and are, encouraged and pressured by the church to marry. The couple would then share pensions and healthcare and raise families without question.

Religion in general functions inversely in the case of marriage rights for non-heteronormative couples. When fighting for marriage rights religion has been a way to stop this from being possible.

In Mississippi, Gov. Phil Bryant signed a bill in April, 2016 that protected businesses and religious groups from punishment if they denied services such as counselling, wedding planning and adoption support to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people if the refusal was based on sincerely held religious beliefs or convictions. In Georgia, the bill HB 757 (2015-2016), gave faith-based organizations the option to deny services to gays and lesbians. Opponents immediately labeled it anti-LGBT and the bill was later revoked.

Identity
Heterosexual privilege is made apparent in the article and study, Personal Identity in College and the Work Context: Developmental Trajectories and Psychosocial Functioning which makes it evident that it is 'easiest' to be heterosexual and therefore it can become a default. When forming their commitments, young people can consider different identity alternatives before they decide upon a given commitment. Individuals who were on a clear and accepted identity pathway fared best in terms of the outcome measures where as individuals with a troubled personal and sexual identification trajectory as they matured into adults fared worst in terms of self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and community integration over time.

Non-heteronormative people are continually constrained by heteronormativity in constructing viable subject positions as ‘normal’, especially when fitting into public spaces such as school or the work place, often having to reproduce heteronormative values. LGBT employees continually negotiate disclosure and adopt strategies to manage their sexual identity at work through constructing a heteronormative or neutral subject position. There is also a dichotomy that serves to classify different types of gay men (as either assimilationist or transgressive) which threatens to reproduce inequalities within and among LGBT people, by establishing a hierarchy of suitability among queer and non-queer identities.

Heterosexual Guilt
The expression heterosexual guilt is derived from the same type of collective emotion that brought about in the phenomenon of white guilt. Heterosexual guilt occurs for some who have the heterosexual privilege that is present within modern societies. It is the feeling that comes about when people who identify as heteronormative experience the feeling of guilt for the discrimination and violence brought upon the LGBT community, and the unresolved and perpetuated discrimination.

Many heterosexuals have had their own ethical problems in relations to sexuality, including issues of divorce, remarriage, premarital sex, and abortion. The acceptance of homosexual practice can be a way of exempting guilt, and it is accommodating in a way that’s self-serving.