Isit“discrimination”foraschooltorefusetohirelesbiansorgaymentobeteachers？Theanswertothisquestiondependsonwhetherthereisamaterialdifferencebetweenhomosexualsandheterosexualsforpurposesofthistask-teachingschoolchildren.Noonethinksthatlesbiansorgaymenaredifferentfromstraightpeopleintheirintelligence，abilitytoexpressthemselves，attentiontodetail，andotherabilitiesthatarerelevanttothisoccupation.NorthAmericanslongbelieved（andsomestilldo）thathomosexualsaremorelikelythanheterosexualstosexuallyassaultchildrenandyoungpeople；certainlythatwouldbeamaterialdifferencethatwouldnegatetheinferencethatexcludinggaypeoplewouldconstitutediscrimination.Butthatasserteddifferencedoesnotexistinfact.Empiricaldataindicatethatlesbiansandopenlygaymenalmostneverassaultchildren，andthattheproblemofchildmolestationisassociatedwithstraightmalesand“closeted”gaymen（e.g.，Jennyetal.，1994）.
（c）PoliciesEffectivelyorDisproportionatelyExcludingGayPeople.Someexclusionsoperateindirectly，andmostofthemarenotconsidereddiscriminatory.Forexample，astateprogramprovidingparentswithsubsidiesandspecialprivilegeswouldapplytofewgaymeninWesternsocieties.Isthisadiscriminationagainstgaymen？Probablynot，becausethereisnocompleteexclusionofgaypeople，noristheprogrammotivatedbyanti-gayprejudice.Thequalification（raisingchildren）isonethatthestatecanreasonablyemphasize，andhomosexualsdohavetheoptionofraisingchildrenintheWest.（Lesbiansfrequentlyraisetheirownbiologicalchildren；gaymendosomuchlessoften.）