Across the spectrum of sexual orientation and gender identity, individuals with nonconforming identities face increased experiences of victimization, discrimination, harassment, and general mistreatment in various social contexts. Heteronormative, cisgender, and White individuals experience significantly less mistreatment and victimization based on gender and sexual orientation than those with nonconforming sexual and gender identities. Through the dissection of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, we can explore the differences in experience between gender identities that intersect with other classes. Intersectionality plays a profound role in the level of mistreatment experienced by individuals from many marginalized groups. Race, gender, and class all interact with how individuals from intersecting backgrounds experience harassment in daily life. Individuals, regardless of their sexual or gender identity, are victims of harassment in everyday life, quite the contrary. The experiences of gay men differ from those of lesbian women, bisexual men, bisexual women, queer people, and transgender people. We hope that data collected through research on the topic of mistreatment of sexual and gender minorities will help to better identify how the heteronormative, cisgender, white ideal triggers such levels of harassment. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"?Get the original essay In Cole's article focusing on intersectionality and its use in research, Cole defines intersectionality as "the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, seen as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage (Cole 2009, p. 170). Previous research has shown us that men tend to endorse both homophobic and sexist material. , as well as elements of hegemonic masculinity in the questionnaires. However, it misses the reason why homophobia and sexism are promoted and classified as common and hegemonic. These questionnaires also do not take into account men who have learned to hide their prejudices. Evidence of homophobic prejudice and approval seems most evident in the way "most men mix forms of hegemonic complicity with non-complicity, mixing sexism and non-sexism and mitigating their own homophobia with denials, “irony and humor” (Korobov 2004, p. 178-179). Homophobia and sexism are manifested both explicitly and implicitly, through outward exclamations of these beliefs as well as more subtle representations through the use of "jokes." Although humor, disclaimers, and irony may seem harmless at first glance, their use remains passive-aggressive, expressing individual bias against individuals of non-conforming sexual orientations and gender identities. Rabelo supports Korobov's theory of hegemonic approval with a definition of stigma theory, explaining how "broader cultural and moral perceptions dictate which social groups are valued and which are not." These perceptions result in stigmatization of these groups, leading to prejudice, discrimination, and other prejudices (Rabelo 2014, p. 379). These prejudices, shapedby our culture's idealistic perpetuation of sexual stigmas that demean and reject anything that remotely deviates from the cisgender, heteronormative, white ideal, creating a hostile environment for individuals with nonconforming sexual orientations and gender identities in all social contexts (Rabelo 2014). Prejudice and discrimination disguised under the umbrella of humor and disclaimers can be particularly damaging to the psyches of targeted individuals because they are presented in a way that asserts their acceptability in everyday use. Heterosexism is based on insensitive, non-aggressive, verbal and symbolic harassment, which expresses hostility towards non-heterosexual individuals or ideas. The people most often subjected to heterosexist harassment are people who deviate from heterosexist norms or gender norms that offer non-heterosexual stereotypes. In addition to heterosexist harassment, sexual and gender minorities are also victims of sexist harassment, including sexual harassment, or any harassment based on sex and/or gender. Sexist harassment is based on gender norms and expectations in which "stereotypical women and hypermasculine men receive positive evaluations and treatment, while gender nonconformists experience contempt and insults, even assault." » (Rabelo 2014, p. 380). Although often used as differentiating terms, homophobia and heterosexism are not very distinctive. Even more so, homophobia can be considered a subtype of heterosexism. Both homophobia and heterosexism are based on antigay prejudices and misunderstandings. However, homophobia stems from a credo based on fear and feelings of hatred, the main factors leading to prejudice and/or harassment of non-heterosexual people. Due to the intense nature of homophobia, the harassment it fuels can often be violent, creating an experience of victimization faced by many people with nonconforming sexual orientation and gender identities (Ragins 2003). In certain contexts, such as the workplace. , heterosexism and gender-based harassment can also take the form of sanctions for non-compliance with company policies and dress codes that exclude people who do not conform to gender stereotypes. And although Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (1964) is supposed to protect employees from sexual harassment, it does not include protection for people who have been harassed or discriminated against because of their failure to comply with standards gender, stereotypes and/or sexual orientation. (Berkley 2006). People with non-conforming sexual orientations and gender identities who experience harassment in environments they feel they cannot avoid, such as the workplace, often experience varying levels of stress and anxiety. Stressors caused by experiences of anti-gay harassment or victimization arise from the expectation of heteronormativity. Heteronormativity can be defined as “the view according to which institutionalized heterosexuality constitutes the norm of legitimate and expected social and sexual relations” (Hequembourg 2009, p. 274). Anyone who does not meet these expectations is more likely to experience job dissatisfaction and stress because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Individuals exposed to “sexual minority stressors, particularly stress resulting from discrimination and anti-gay violence, may explain a higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders and symptoms of poor mental healthamong GLBs compared to heterosexuals” (Hequembourg & Brallier 2009, p. 275). . In Hequembourg's study, experiences related to gender and sexual identity were studied and compared. Hequembourg & Brallier use a qualitative research approach to explore differences in stress among gender and sexual minorities to better understand what promotes stress and what consequences may arise from certain indicators of stress. Many differences in gender and sexual identity revealed some misconceptions. for example, “women's same-sex relationships were eroticized and distorted to fit the gaze of heterosexual men, while homosexual men were negatively portrayed as sexually promiscuous and deviant” (Hequembourg and Brallier 2009, p. 292). Most respondents, regardless of gender or sexuality, acknowledged societal stereotypes that depict GLB people as more light and sexual than heterosexuals. Herek says GLB individuals fear being fired from a job because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. A comparable study showed that “8 to 17 percent of LGB people have been fired or denied employment because of their sexual orientation” (Badgett 2007, p. 4). Both male and female participants admitted to feeling fear when confronted with heterosexual men, particularly when it came to alcohol. Alcohol can fuel intrinsic biases as well as increase levels of anger and violence, combined with poor judgment. In situations where alcohol was involved, participants reported feeling unsafe or threatened by heterosexual men. Herek also states that "people who have experienced physical assault because of their sexual orientation appear to have higher levels of psychological distress than others" (Herek 1997, pp. 209-210). Herek also adds that interview data underrepresent and misrecognize the seriousness of homosexual crimes because they can take many forms, encompassing differentiated patterns (Herek 1997). In Hequembourg's study, lesbian and bisexual women "indicated that stereotypes about same-sex relationships between women are often eroticized in our culture. Thus, women in homosexual relationships are considered sexual objects and their sexual exclusivity towards other women is ignored by heterosexual men” (Hequembourg & Brallier 2009, p.280). Due to the increased sexualization of women in American culture, women are more likely than their male counterparts to be harassed based on their gender and femininity. If a heterosexual man is turned away by a woman, especially if the reasoning is that the woman is not heterosexual, the woman could become a victim of promiscuous sexual prejudice and experience unwanted sexual advances, or be a victim of sexual harassment fueled by anger and hurt. masculinity followed by experiences of unwanted sexual advances or sometimes assault. “Half of the women surveyed who reported an antigay crime (7 of 14) had been sexually assaulted, compared to one of the men...Sexual assaults tended to differ from other hate crimes in this sense. they were usually committed in a private setting by a lone assistant known to the victim. » (Herek 1997, p. 203). Women's experiences seem more sexualized than men's. Gay and bisexual men often face more anger and hostility due to their nonconformity to sexuality and gender norms. What do men represent in our society?Why should gay men be more widely targeted? Men represent masculinity, toughness. Gay men break masculine norms and therefore make people, especially heterosexual men, feel threatened just by being themselves because they don't fit the typical masculine norms considered normal by our society. In a later article by Herek, he states that “gay men are at the greatest risk of personal and property crimes” (Herek 2008, p. 69). While lesbian and bisexual women are more likely to experience sexual harassment from heterosexual men, gay and bisexual men are more likely to experience explicit violence motivated by their nonconformity to stereotypical norms of masculinity and gender norms. Harassment and discrimination in the workplace create a hostile environment for gay, lesbian and bisexual people. The evidence certainly shows that increased experiences of harassment and discrimination based on gender identity can be psychologically damaging and threaten an individual's self-esteem. However, the above research lacks study of transgender people, whose experiences of harassment and discrimination are equally important to examine when trying to understand issues related to social bias against sexual and gender minorities . When talking about transgender individuals, this includes "any person whose expression of gender identity does not correspond to traditional gender norms, [and/or] does not necessarily associate with the gender they have been assigned assigned at birth” (Dispenza, Watson, Chung, & Brack, 2012). In a survey of transgender people in San Francisco, the study found that "57 percent of transgender people surveyed had experienced employment discrimination based on their transgender status or gender identity." Respondents had been fired, denied employment, or denied promotion in employment solely on the basis of their gender identity. Despite such damning statistics, only 12% of those surveyed actually filed a complaint. Individuals may know that they have the choice to file a complaint, but they do not do so for fear that it will reflect on them, causing them difficulties in their professional lives and/or making them the target of more harassment and discrimination in the future (Badgett, 2007). Across all dimensions of gender and sexuality, the types of discrimination encountered are multidimensional and multi-level. In the workplace, transgender people more regularly experience harassment in the form of "hostile comments, employees' refusal to use their preferred names or pronouns, and refusal to allow transgender people to use restrooms." that correspond to their gender identity” (Dispenza 2012, p.65-66). Not only did transgender people identify harassment incited by heterosexual cisgender people, but also by other members of the LGBT community. In Dispenza's study, participants identified horizontal oppression as a type of discrimination that transgender individuals face compared to LGB individuals. Dispenza also argues that discrimination and harassment against sexual and gender minorities is likely inspired by the perceived threat that sexual and gender nonconformists pose to patriarchy, which is "any institution traditionally guided by masculine values” (Dispenza 2012, p.77). Patriarchy promotes white male domination.