Homosexuality (from the main list)

[Neil Ward]

I wrote:

<<It will always be an issue until people stop assuming heterosexuality as a
default.>>

Rita noted:

<Umm, Neil, I want there to be gay characters in HP for the sake of realism
and political correctness and more possible ships, but the famous Kinsey
statistic that 10% of people are pretty much homosexual and 90% of people
are pretty much heterosexual implies that assuming any newly met person is
heterosexual will be right 9 out of 10 times -- a probability rate high
enough that it will probably stay the default assumption. A higher
probability rate than the assumption that any undescribed person mentioned
in a fiction or a news article is white, which was discussed recently on
OT.>

Since it is the default case, you're right to say that heterosexuality will
probably stay the default assumption, and that is why - coupled with shades
of prejudice - homosexuality will probably always be an issue.  My point was
to question that assumption, the one that decides "everyone is heterosexual
unless they tell me otherwise".  Apart from lesbians and gay men, some
people define themselves as bisexual; some have homosexual experiences, but
still define themselves as straight; and some prefer not to have their
sexual orientation labelled in conclusive terms.  That's quite a spectrum...

Neil
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