There are a lot of misconceptions about queerness. Here is a short list:
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- Same-sex parents harm children, “children need a mother” “children need a father”
- People become gay because of the lack of a sex-role modeling from their parents
- No one is born gay
- “It’s just a phase”
- The homosexual agenda, queer people should not be parents/teachers/etc. because they will influence or try to recruit children to the homosexual lifestyle.
These are all very harmful to the LGBTQ+ community because these misconceptions center heteronormativity.
These misconceptions often root from the lack of information and poor education. Sex education in the United States is inconsistent and taught in a plethora of ways because there is no federal regulation of how or what should be taught. The lack of uniformity across the states results in an uneven distribution of particular knowledge.
This video gives a comprehensive overview of sex education in the US, even opening with a skit about how children have been taught about sex in school. These misconceptions about sex in the video are not negative but highlight heteronormative expectations of sex to be between a man and a woman. They do not discuss harmful misconceptions particularly about queerness, but it shows how misconceptions are passed on without being addressed because of a lack of correct information.
Students being interviewed in the video note how there is little comprehensive sex education when it is talked about in school. Some even note that it is not representative because they never talk about gay sex or gender identity. This is huge because it is not allowing people to have the knowledge they need to navigate sex, sexuality, and gender identity. The lack of representation stems from heteronormativity in that sex must be between a man and a woman, reinforcing heterosexuality and the gender binary.
This uneven knowledge distribution arises from opposition of what should be taught in schools. One student in the video summaries that “some opponents are critical of teaching kids about gender identity and consent. They say what is taught isn’t age appropriate, is too graphic, goes against personal beliefs, or can put ideas into kids heads.” This goes back to the misconceptions mentioned at the beginning of this page. The negative views about queerness and parenthood impact children’s access to this knowledge as well as reinforcing these misconceptions because of the push to not teach sex education.
These misconceptions are upheld in the legal system as well.
“Gay panic” is a defense used in court to excuse actions as a result of finding out someone is gay. This defense is used in claiming self-defense, provocation, or insanity/diminished capacity. In doing so, people defend themselves by stating they weren’t in the right mind and freaked out because of someone’s queerness. The most recognized case of this is 1998 Matthew Shepard who was beaten to death by two men who attempted to use the gay panic defense to excuse their actions. (National LGBTQ Bar Association, 2022).
It wouldn’t be until 2009 that President Obama would sign the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act to expand on the existing federal hate crime law. Now it includes crimes motivated by a victim’s perceived or actual identity (gender, disability, sexuality, race, etc). Previously the prerequisite to claim hate crime was that the victim had to be engaging in some federally protected activity such as enrolling in/attending school, travelling, or voting (Cornell Law, 2022). Therefore this federal law prohibits hate crimes and discrimination, but does not necessarily outlaw gay panic as several states still have not prohibited this defense.
Majority of New England has banned this except New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Ed Markey has reintroduced the Gay and Trans Panic Defense Prohibition Act several times, but as it remains nothing has come out of this because no politicians is interested in voting on it. Therefore people are still allowed to use the gay panic defense in states like New Hampshire and Massachusetts in New England.