'Normal' majority source of bullying

THE recent publication of the Out On The Fields study of homophobia in sport in English-speaking countries has highlighted what sexual and gender minorities know all too well - homophobia is alive and well and living in our communities.

Let us be clear: this study is not about banter; it is about bullying. Whether it is in classrooms or boardrooms, on the street or on the sports field, the dominant social understanding is that heterosexuality, and its rights, institutions and privileges, is normal, natural, inevitable and desirable.

This view, called "hetero-normativity", is what surrounds children and young people from birth. It is reinforced by media and every social institution, and can be accepted uncritically by young people.

Hetero-normativity is accompanied by the notion of heterosexual privilege, by which heterosexuals assume the right to establish "normal" behaviour and relationships, and to demean non-heterosexually conforming behaviour.

It assumes the right to label, exclude and humiliate people based on assumptions about the way they behave or love. It assumes the right, in some countries, to engage in so-called corrective rape of women perceived as lesbian, or to jail, torture or execute gay people for the crime of being who they are.

Heterosexual privilege in every country educates young people about how they must behave in order to avoid being excluded or humiliated, including ensuring young people conceal any non-conforming identities.

In 1983, the late poet Adrienne Rich wrote: "Heterosexuality has had to be imposed, managed, organised, propagandised and maintained by force." In other words, homophobia, hetero-normativity and heterosexual privilege are simply sophisticated words for social bullying.

Out On The Fields is an online study of 9494 people (26 per cent of these identified as heterosexual) from the US, Britain, Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand, which asked them about their experiences in sport. This was a self-selected and very large sample, with 651 participants from New Zealand.

The study found that 73 per cent of participants felt that youth sport was not safe and welcoming for gay people; 80 per cent of participants said that they had witnessed or experienced homophobia in sport; 84 per cent of gay men and 82 per cent of lesbians had been the target of verbal assaults, and 19 per cent of gay men and 9 per cent of lesbians had been physically assaulted.

The findings from Out On The Fields will be nothing new to sexual and gender minorities. Queer communities have experienced intolerance and hate in many arenas, whether it is from religious authorities, in a classroom, an athletic team or PE class, a parliamentary debate, or simply walking down the street.

What Out On The Fields does is to turn the focus on where the problem really sits.

Calling someone "queer" or "faggot" is not a gay problem: it is a straight problem. It is a problem for heterosexuals.

People who engage in social bullying are lesser people because of their bullying, and they teach our children to be lesser, more intolerant people. That is the challenge to New Zealand sport and the wider society.

The messages from Out On The Fields are directed at heterosexual people and sexual minority communities. To heterosexuals, the message is: this kind of bullying is your problem, and you need to fix it. The study challenges heterosexual coaches, officials, and players to stand up and declare themselves against bullying of any kind in sport, and particularly homophobic bullying.

To sexual minority communities, the message is equally clear: the battles are far from over. With all that gay, lesbian and trans communities have won in the past few years in the legislatures, courts and media, it is easy for us to sit back and think: "We won." But Out On The Fields reminds us that there is still much more to do.

-Mark Henrickson is associate professor of social work at Massey University, Auckland