The Role of Difference Evasion in Cisheterosexual People Managing Privilege and Legitimizing of Inequalities

How do cisheterosexual people in Western Europe deal with inequalities against LGBTQ people when anti-LGBTQ discrimination in these settings is often praised as overcome? The present research argues that cisheterosexual people in allegedly post-closeted settings deal with inequalities by evading difference based on sexual orientation and gender identity. By emphasizing individuals and their fundamental sameness, cisheterosexual people often evade difference to convey an inclusive standpoint. However, evading difference might also prevent them from pinpointing the very markers of intergroup inequality. Critically, cisheterosexual people might blur their privileged status by evading difference and conflate it with normalcy, and, thereby, further legitimize structural inequalities. Using mixed-methods consisting of interviews (N = 20) and surveys (N = 531), we found that cisheterosexual people in the Netherlands exhibited profile combinations of difference evasion (“People who focus a lot on sexual orientation and gender identity forget that we are all just people”) and inequality evasion (“Compared to cisgender and heterosexual people, LGBTQ people have equal opportunities”). Moreover, these profiles were associated with distinct cisheterosexual identity strategies and, thereby, with ideologies legitimizing inequalities. Specifically, cisheterosexual people evading difference were more likely to also evade inequality than people who acknowledged difference. Moreover, those acknowledging difference were the most prone to pinpoint their privileges as cisheterosexuals. Furthermore, people who acknowledged difference strongly endorsed countering efforts against inequalities and displayed the most system-challenging ideological features. We conclude by discussing how Western European cisheterosexual people perpetuate or counter inequalities by managing difference and the implications of these findings in so-called liberal democracies.