Preservice Teacher Attitudes Toward Gay and Lesbian Parents

Gay and lesbian parents are raising an increasing number of children, but little is known about how these parents are viewed by school personnel. In this study, preservice teacher attitudes, toward gay and lesbian parents were assessed using implicit, explicit, behavioral, and behavioroid measures. Implicit measures indicate that participants rated same-gender targets more negatively than they rated heterosexual targets, and they rated targets of gay men more negatively than they rated lesbians; however, response patterns varied by participant sex. Furthermore, implicit measures of sexual prejudice generally correlated with explicit and behavioroid measures. The implications of these findings are discussed.