When legal systems choose to offer no protections to sexual minorities, even avid LGBTQ supporters would reject their gay neighbors, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study.
The study examined "superficial allies," or those who express full support for sexual minorities while refusing neighboring proximity to them. The researchers found the absence of legal recognition and protection for sexual minorities at the national level increases sexual prejudice among both allies and stigmatizers.
The research is the first to explore stigmatizing behaviors of people who fully accept homosexuality. Previous research focused solely on people who reject homosexuality.
"While the power of legal exclusion in stigmatization is undeniable, its impact on ally behavior has never been explored," said author Shahin Davoudpour, a postdoctoral research fellow in the department of medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
"Everything we know from research is about the stigmatizing group," Davoudpour said. "For example, in popular news, the rhetoric focuses on homophobic parents who become allies upon discovering their child is gay. What we don't ever hear about is the opposite of this: You're supportive of them, but once they come out, then you no longer want to be neighbors, colleagues or even friends. The dynamic behind this inconsistency between acceptance and inclusion is what I study."
The study was recently published in the journal Sociological Research Online.
Legal inclusion is the degree to which a society's legal institutions recognize and protect one's identity. It can play a powerful role in the reduction of stigma, even among allies, Davoudpour said.
The large, survey-based study examined data from 113 countries with varying degrees of legal inclusion for sexual minorities.
"The more legal protection that existed, the less likely people were to reject association with homosexual neighbors in both stigmatizer and ally groups," he said.
