Research Paper on Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation: What It Is and Why It's Wrong

Introduction

Discrimination based on sexual orientation infers to the situation where an individual is treated dishonorably because of their sexuality. A person's sexuality is usually based on whether they are fascinated by either their own sex, the opposite sex, or both. People who are attracted to their own sex are referred to as gay or lesbian people, those who are attracted to the opposite are referred to as heterosexual while those who are attracted to both the opposite and the same sex are bisexual individuals. Sexual orientation discrimination can either be direct or indirect. Also, sexual orientation discrimination leads to adversative outcomes that must be disdained. This paper seeks to provide a more in-depth analysis of the issue of discrimination based on sexual orientation and its adversative implications.

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Direct and Indirect Sexual Based Discrimination

Direct discrimination is the most noticeable because it involves treating others less favorably because of their sexuality. In most cases, the person would have treated a person of dissimilar sexuality with respect. This type of discrimination can also occur by association where you are disrespected because of being related to someone who has a different sexual orientation (Lee & Ostergard. 2017). Some of the common forms of direct discrimination are harassment and abuse; for instance, barring someone from working because they are of a disparate sexual orientation. On the other hand, indirect discrimination infers to the regulations, policies, or practices which are less likely to be met by an individual of a specific sexual orientation. Indirect bias typically involves placing rules that would be a setback to people of a specific sexual orientation. An instance of this type of discrimination is where a club gives discounts or incentives to all wives and husbands, leaving out other kinds of partners.

Effects of Sexual Based Discrimination

According to recent research, sexual orientation discrimination is still rampant across the world, and individuals continue to experience persistent judgment that destructively affects multiple elements of their lives (Bey, Jesdale, Forrester, Person & Kiefe, 2019). The discrimination victims always try to make refined but robust changes in their lives to reduce the risk of facing discrimination by hiding their true selves. This, more often than not, always takes a toll on their general health and may even result in suicide if not regulated. Some countries have also legally prohibited some forms of sexualities, especially those that belong to the LGBT community (Lee & Ostergard, .2017). People who live in such areas have a tough time expressing their authentic selves.

Psychological Effect

Most victims of sexual orientation-based discrimination usually face psychological problems. Studies indicate that the sexual minority fruits face many health discrepancies, especially mental health disparities (Chan, Lee, Hui, Chang, Lee & Chen, 2017). Multiple research works have depicted heightened pervasiveness of anxiety and depressive disorders among gay, bisexual, lesbian groups in contrast to the heterosexuals (Bunel, L'Horty, Du Parquet & Petit, 2018). In most cases, these disparities are caused by the stress that favoritism and apparent discrimination can project. According to Meyer (2019), it is the stressors in the lives of minority people that make them face mental challenges and makes them withdraw from the general society. It is the extra stress caused by discrimination and stigma that leads to the higher occurrences of mental health disparities that are mostly found in sexual minority populations.

It is additionally depicted that sexual minority groups are more likely to be diagnosed with depression, and this makes them act in a weird manner. Most of these people usually resort to taking drugs and get involved in other queer activities to counter their mental challenges. Discrimination based on sexuality also leads to higher chances of unmet mental healthcare requirements. LGBT people are usually considered abnormal, and hence nobody cares about their everyday lives. The strict rules that have been reinforced on sexual minority groups also make them shy away from seeking help from professionals or their friends. In some of the countries that prohibit the existence of some sexual groups, victims of sexual discrimination find it hard to report to the authorities because of fear of being arrested. In most cases, the sexual minority members only find help in their community where they understand each other and find solace in their community's allies. Psychological issues always lead to more negative outcomes if not treated; hence, it will be essential if measures are put to curb any form of sexually-oriented discrimination.

Sociological Effects

People in the sexual minority groups are often discriminated from social groups. It is common for people to judge a person or disdain themselves from other people just because of their sexual orientation. Krieger (2015), projects that discrimination is more of a socially organized and endorsed factor, approved by ideology and shown by interactions between or among people and organizations, meant to retain privileges for individuals who meet certain criteria at the cost of deficit of others.

Sexual orientation prejudice is a form of enactment and manifestation of discrimination that is intended to eliminate some people from a particular group, based on their sexuality. This aspect always leads to the denial of some privileges to the affected individuals as what they are denied could be essential to them. This element always also often results in the social awkwardness of the sexual minority group since they always themselves as different from the privileged groups. It is common to find the discriminated persons isolating themselves and not wishing to interact with other people.

Discrimination based on sexuality often leads to people being denied jobs even when they are overqualified. The oppressors of sexual minority groups always see them as bad characters and hence tend to push them away. Members of the sexual minority groups additionally experience out of the norm reaction from other people when they are in public. Hence, if sexuality-based discrimination does not cease, the victims will always face social isolation because of failing to meet social expectations.

Hindrances towards Socioeconomic Advancement

Sexually oriented discrimination usually leads to denial of access to social resources by the sexual minority groups. These individuals are typically denied some resources by adversative polices or direct elimination by some prejudiced people. In some instances, employers or specific organizations may deny access to a job to a person who is qualified because of their queer sexual orientation (Glen, 2016). These hindrances usually make some people lose some significant opportunities just because of their sexuality. An instance is where a gay or lesbian person is denied access to a marketing job or a superior role at an organization simply because the human resource team perceives that they will taint the public image of the organization by working at the company. In most cases, such people are usually told to hide their sexuality or denied the position all the same. In some cases, the person might get the job but might ace discrimination from co-workers or clients.

There are also aspects that fuel sexual discrimination. An example of such elements is the absence of state law protections against employment discrimination due to gender identity or sexual orientation. Individuals who belong to the sexual minority group must concede to federal-level work discrimination polices. It is only a few areas that provide protections founded on sexual orientation, with only a few offering protections established on sexual identity or expression. Thus, sexual minority groups have become defenseless to work-related refinements, and some have been denied employment because of their sexual orientation. The aspects, as mentioned above, put some groups at a disadvantaged position since they are denied the chance to develop themselves and improve their living standards. Most victims of sexuality-based discrimination hence end up missing significant life opportunities and other changes that enhance their lives.

Conclusion

Sexual-oriented discrimination often leads to extremely adversative implications on the affected individuals. Some places such as workplaces, schools, businesses, and residential areas prohibit sexual orientation discrimination; hence, the victim may take legal action about it. It will be plausible if several awareness measures are put in place to ensure that discrimination based on sexual discrimination ends all over the world. Prejudice and pervasive stereotypes of some sexual minority groups lead to stress and other antagonistic effects on the targets. They also miss out on a chance of socioeconomic development and other sociological interactions that would have been helpful to them. Thus, it will be essential for sexually-oriented discrimination is curbed.

References

Bey, G. S., Jesdale, B., Forrester, S., Person, S. D., & Kiefe, C. (2019). Intersectional effects of racial and gender discrimination on cardiovascular health vary among black and white women and men in the CARDIA study. SSM-population health, 8, 100446.

Bunel, M., L'Horty, Y., Du Parquet, L., & Petit, P. (2018). Identifying preference-based discrimination in the rental market: a field experiment in Paris.

Chan, S. K. W., Lee, K. W., Hui, C. L. M., Chang, W. C., Lee, E. H. M., & Chen, E. Y. H. (2017). Gender effect on public stigma changes towards psychosis in the Hong Kong Chinese population: a comparison between population surveys of 2009 and 2014. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 52(3), 259-267.

Glen, J. (2016). Affirmative Action: The Constitutional Approach to Ending Sex Disparities on Corporate Boards. Minn. L. Rev., 101, 2089.

Krieger, N. (2015). Police killings, political impunity, racism, and people's health: issues for our times. Harvard public health Rev, 3(Jan), 1-2.

Lee, C., & Ostergard Jr, R. L. (2017). Measuring Discrimination against LGBTQ People: A Cross-National Analysis. Human Rights Quarterly, 39(1), 37-72.

Meyer, I. (2019). Differences in sexual identity dimensions between bisexual and other sexual minority individuals: Implications for minority stress and mental health. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 89(1), 40.