heterosexual privilege

Heterosexual privilege is the idea that heterosexuals are awarded certain privileges based solely on the fact that they are heterosexuals. Some of these privileges include being allowed to marry the person you love, not be judged because of who you love, and not be told that your love for another person is false, sinful, and wrong. Although it is unfortunate, this heterosexual bias clearly exists in the world. (Proposition 8?) The media has taken it upon itself to try and expose this unfair privilege and teach people that we should not judge others, for better or worse, because of their sexuality.

In an episode of Family Guy called “You May Now Kiss The… Uh…Guy Who Receives” Brian’s gay cousin Jasper and his boyfriend come to Quahog. Jasper is depicted as a typical stereotypical homosexual, he has a feminine voice, he wears a belly shirt and he has an earring in his left ear. During their visit the two decide to get married and Brian is so kind as to offer the Griffin’s house for the ceremony. Lois has some moral qualms about gay marriage and is not comfortable hosting a gay wedding. She goes on to say that she has nothing against homosexuals but the idea of two men getting married “just doesn’t seem right.” If only I could ask Lois, who decided that a man and a women getting married was “right?” If two people love each other and want to get married, what does it matter if they are a man and women, or two men, or two women? This idea that only a heterosexual couple can and should have the right to marry is on of the privileges denied to homosexual couples because society deems lesser couples in society. Peter Griffin stands as the voice of reason in this episode saying “if gays want to get married and be miserable like the rest of us who are we to stop them.

While Family Guy is not usually a political mobile to correspond important messages, I feel that this episode did. Lois, who feel she is a very open minded person, has a problem with gay marriage, because marriage is supposed to be reserved for men and women. This idea of heterosexual privilege, that certain rights are only reserved for heterosexual couples, must be irradiated or else homosexuals will continue to be treated as lesser citizens and people in society. Lois realizes that it is ridiculous to believe that “two straight people who hate each other have more of a right to be together than two gay people who love each other.” The episode’s final message is that if two people love each other they should have every right and privilege that any other heterosexual couple would have.