Homophobia is the fear of, or aversion to homosexuality or those perceived to be homosexual, often resulting in discriminatory behaviour, i.e. treating people negatively on the basis of this perceived trait. Although individual, it can also support structural discrimination. In turn, stereotypes and negative messages about homosexuality cultivate homophobia. Homophobia can be internalised, leading people to fear or hate their …

Heterosexism is a predisposition to heterosexuality as ‘normal’, which is biased against other forms of sexual orientation. This is not the same as homophobia, but is rather the discrimination against non-heterosexual people due to cultural bias. It often occurs through omission and/or distortion of non-heterosexual realities, eg in media. Heterosexism is structurally reinforced where institutions privilege heterosexual orientation. For example, …

The reinforcement of certain beliefs by social institutions. These beliefs include that people fall into two distinct and complementary categories, male and female, and that sexual relations are normal only between people of different sexes, and correlates to beliefs that each sex has certain ‘natural’ roles in life. Thus, it is assumed that sex, gender identity and gender roles should …

A Māori term describing someone born with a male body who has a female gender identity.