Heterosexism -: social, cultural and psychological aspects of attitudes to lesbians and gays

As the homosexuality was removed out of the manual of mental diseases, the interest of researches has focused mostly on the dynamics of majority - minority's relationship and its influence on lesbians and gays. The authors explain the concept of heterosexism and outline present situation of the institutional heterosexism in Slovakia. They also discuss mutual connections between attitudes toward gay men, lesbian women and cultural ideologies - ideology of sexuality and ideology of gender. In the second part of the paper the authors focus on the individual manifestations of heterosexism, on correlates of the homophobic attitudes, and also present functional approach to attitudes toward lesbian and gays. Finally, some of the consequences of the antigay climate for heterosexuals, lesbian women and gay men are pointed out.