First, we directly measure whether or not people have lesbian, gay, or bisexual acquaintances. We identify two factors that are associated with people’s perceptions of ingroups and outgroups. “ Gay Street, Knoxville” by Wyoming_Jackrabbit is licensed under CC BY NC SA 2.0 However, for half of participants the policy questions referred to “homosexuals,” while the other half were asked about “gays and lesbians.” By comparing participants’ attitudes about the “homosexual” policy to participants’ attitudes about “gay and lesbian” policy, we are able to test whether the word “homosexual” cues group identity when determining policy positions. All participants were asked about their opinion on two civil rights policies affecting gay men and lesbians. To test this theory, we leverage a simple experiment contained within the American National Election Studies (ANES) 2012 survey. Words matter when determining policy positions The word “homosexual” should most negatively affect the attitudes of authoritarians who also view gay men and lesbians as an outgroup. For some straight (or heterosexual) people, “homosexuals” are clearly outside of the norm for others, so-called “homosexuals” are actually part of their social group. The missing piece is that the perceived social order can differ from person to person. Past researchers tested whether authoritarianism alone increases hostility to “homosexuals” compared to “gays and lesbians,” but found mixed results. Authoritarians keep outgroups at a distance in order to preserve this conformity. Authoritarianism is a personality trait which involves a greater desire for social order and conformity. We expect that people high in authoritarianism are more sensitive to language that signifies group distinctions. Compared to “gay and lesbian,” “homosexual” cues certain people to increase their opposition to civil rights policies that benefit gay men and lesbians. What effect does this have on public opinion? We find that the word “homosexual” divides public opinion based on group identity. At the same time, positive coverage typically used “gay and lesbian” to describe the couples affected by the referendum.
As recently of August 2017, pamphlets in Australia used the word “homosexual” to emphasize the supposed deviance of same-sex marriage ahead of a referendum on marriage equality. Public opinion on gay and lesbian rights has changed a dramatically over time, but the divided use of the terms “homosexual” and “gay and lesbian” remains. “Homosexual” is a strong marker of outgroup identity, or belonging to a group that is other from us and who live outside of our society. “Gay and lesbian” is more likely to be used to describe friends, relatives, or neighbors. The terms we use for sexuality matter because they signal group identity. The more clinical term “homosexual,” on the other hand, has been used to pathologize and stigmatize same-sex desire. In a historical review of words used to describe gay men and lesbians, we find that the term “gay” has been used by advocacy groups to signal pride and acceptance of sexual identity. Our research shows that important differences between the terms “homosexual” and “gay and lesbian” shape public opinion on civil rights policies. For example, more Republicans disapprove of Obamacare than the Affordable Care Act – even though these are two names for the same policy. The words that the media, voters, and policymakers use can drastically change public opinion. They find that compared to “gay and lesbian,” “homosexual” cues certain people to increase their opposition to civil rights policies that benefit gay men and lesbians. Smith and colleagues examines how these words can shape how people feel about civil rights policies. For example, the term “homosexual” is more likely to be used to identify a group who some feel are outside of society, while “gay and lesbian” are much more inclusive terms. Words matter different terms and phrases can be a huge influence on how the public things about important issues.