Media and legislation contribute to inflating anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments, structuring societal views of queerness and the treatment of queer people within the criminal justice and legal system. Heteronormativity contributes to this because it informs the language media and legal systems use to admonish and alienate queer people.
One example of this is “moral panic” which is this widespread feeling of fear that something evil threatens the values, interests, and/or wellbeing of society. This panic “seek(s) to organize behaviors and attitudes to conform to particular regimes of moral regulation” (Tettey, 2016, 89). This moral panic is applicable to queerness because of the many misconceptions held about LGBTQ+ individuals. People construct anti-LGBTQ language to outcast queerness and reinforce heteronormativity. Creating irrational fear within the general public makes room for more misconceptions and hateful language to be used within media and the criminal justice system.