What are the advantages of being straight? What kinds of assumptions underlie heterosexism, and how do they disadvantage gay and lesbian people? The following clip shows several college students speaking about how easy it is to assume everyone is straight, and how being gay or lesbian in an overwhelmingly straight society can be inhibiting or awkward.

Please watch the following video clip and answer the corresponding follow-up questions.

Learning to be Straight

1			What kinds of cultural events and milestones, especially of adolescence, are practiced in ways that privilege heterosexuality? Besides those mentioned in the video, can you think of other events of adolescence that are coded as straight?
2			Have you ever found yourself assuming someone you know is straight, and been wrong? How might the dorm leader have approached her students in a way that was less heterosexist, and more inclusive?