Discourse, Diversity and Discrimination: Understanding and Challenging Heterosexism.

In this talk, I offer an argument for interrogating manifestations of heterosexism in lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) people’s lives. I discuss the concept of ‘mundane heterosexism’ and accounts of others’ reactions to a happy event and to a sad experience in two contrasting data corpora –people planning or in a civil partnership and women who have experienced pregnancy loss. I explore the ways that the issues of muted reactions and displays of heteronormativity are manifest. In considering these issues with respect to accounts of these two very different forms of experience (civil partnership and pregnancy loss) I demonstrate how a sense of being treated differently is produced as problematic. But also, in the case of pregnancy loss, being treated the same (as the implied heterosexual norm) is similarly produced as troublesome. I argue that it is in the nuances of the presentation of o/Other’s reactions that we can see the continued operation of heteronormativity. In conclusion, I suggest that, despite significant legal and structural gains for LGBTQ communities in a number of Western countries in recent years, critical examination of manifestations of heterosexism continue to be important for clinical psychology training and practice.