Suzanne: So, you think that prejudice against gay people is based on fear?

Bette:  Oh, absolutely. I think all prejudice is based on fear.  Fear that gays will harm non-gay people. Fear that they might damage your standing in the community. Fear that gayness is like a transmittable disease. Or that gayness is like most religions, that is you can be converted or enticed into being gay. Fear that gayness is a form some kind of mental illness, or disease or un-natural state. And with parents of gay children, the fear that they may have caused such an undesirable condition or such a poor choice and that they will be blamed for another gay person in the community. There are people in everyone’s life that they want to please or as least not to disappoint. There are people whom you work with whom you worry may not respect you or like you if you are not the person, they think you are. There are people with prejudice. For Tina, she had experienced some prejudice in that she is a woman, she’s smart, she’s been in charge of things, she’s a blond, and she is rather attractive. And there are those who are prejudice or make assumptions about each of those things. But being gay was a whole new ballgame back in those days. For being gay was a violation of law for decades. It was a violation of Christian tenants and most other world religions a well. People could be and were fired regularly because they were gay. They could be denied service at hotels and restaurants. Some were denied participation in church rituals and memberships.  Some were attacked and brutalized and murdered. And some were actually given interventions as if they could do something to make the gay go away. Things were getting better depending on where you lived. But prejudice was still very much alive and well and still is in certain parts of our community. All of that, Tina had to come to terms with before she could take that next step and dive into a committed relationship.

Tina:  And even then, I had some problems with norms I had grown up with. And it affected our relationship.

Angie: What kind of society norms?