Invisibility and Justice for All?

By Katie Shaw

          Heterosexual couples get the privilege of being able to publicly express their feelings for one another without persecution from others in society, which enables this idea of visibility—they’re allowed hold hands or kiss in public and rarely are they mistaken for merely friends. Therefore, a heterosexual couple of the same race is considered the societal norm and rewarded for this behavior with respect within society and the ability to marry. When the confines of monoracial heterosexuality are challenged, everything else is deemed abnormal and undesirable. So, that would include interracial heterosexual couples, monoracial same-sex couples, and interracial same-sex couples.

          On the flip side, if same-sex couples were to engage in this type of behavior, such as holding hands or kissing in public, behavior that society has decided is inappropriate in social spaces for same-sex couples because it deviates from the norm, then they would be accused of “flaunting their sexuality and thereby are perceived as deserving or even asking for harassment or assault”(Steinbugler). There is this double standard for how couples are allowed to act. Simply because a couple is not seen as valid in the eyes of society does not grant humanity the right to discriminate and withhold basic human rights, such as gaining the privileges of a married couple by legalizing same-sex marriage. 

Works Cited
Steinbugler, Amy C. "Visibility as Privilege and Danger: Heterosexual and Same-Sex Intimacy in the 
21st-Century." http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:5729/content/8/4/425.full.pdf+html