ABSTRACT
Romantic relationships are a central aspect of adults’ identities, yet, for too long, this aspect of LGBTQ people’s identities has been invisible. This invisibility is called sexuality blindness and this chapter argues that this ideology has severely thwarted our scientific understanding of the comprehensive experiences of LGBTQ people. Cumulatively, sexuality blindness entails: 1) devaluing same-sex relationships in relation to cis-gender heterosexual relationships; 2) rendering invisible the unique identity and, subsequently, challenges and opportunities of partnered LGBTQ couples with respect to their single counterparts and cis-gender heterosexual partnered counterparts; 3) preferring LGBTQ couples mute or keep their relationships private; and 4) preferring LGBTQ couples not show public displays of affection. This chapter provides an overview of the construct of sexuality blindness and how it relates to diversity resistance, reviews relevant literature on how significant others impact one’s career experiences within the fields of politics, ministry and higher education and makes a call for researchers to conduct more high-quality research on partnered LGBTQ individuals as doing so would make significant contributions to a number of literatures within I/O psychology and Organizational Behavior.
