ABSTRACT
Legislation banning sexual and racial discrimination has been enacted in most developed market economies. Lifting bans on homosexuality has also been a feature of the same liberalising trend. Open discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, or sexual orientation may now be illegal, but prejudice and discrimination against those who do not conform to a society’s self-identified norms still exist, but they now take more covert forms. It is now no longer overt but adopts less explicit and subtle expression that is more difficult to pin down; but exists none-the-less. It is hidden but still manifest. The prejudice and discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientations, religion, political affiliations, or whatever occur in ways that are more covert and subtle. This chapter will principally discuss race, gender, and sexual orientation themes, but the general features of covert and subtle discrimination apply across all acts of prejudice and discrimination embracing religious identity, political affiliations, or trade union membership, for example.
