Bigotry: Meaning, Prejudice, Discrimination, and Sexuality

For example, saying that all members of a religion, race, sexual orientation, or gender identity are inferior is bigotry. Refusing to work with someone solely because they are gay, transgender, disabled, or from a particular ethnic group may also reflect bigotry.

A disagreement about an individual’s behavior is not automatically bigotry. The term applies when judgment or hostility is directed at people because of their identity or group membership.

• The organization condemned religious bigotry.
• Bigotry can lead to exclusion and violence.
• The campaign challenges bigotry in public life.

A specific type may be named before the noun:

• racial bigotry;
• religious bigotry;
• anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry;
• anti-immigrant bigotry;
• gender-based bigotry.

A bigot is a person who holds strongly prejudiced or intolerant views:

• He was criticized as a bigot.
• The speaker repeated the claims of religious bigots.

The adjective bigoted describes a person, belief, statement, or action:

• a bigoted remark;
• bigoted attitudes;
• a bigoted policy;
• deeply bigoted language.

Because bigot is a strong label, it is often clearer to identify the specific statement or behavior as bigoted rather than using the noun without explanation.

Bigotry is usually more intense and rigid. It suggests strong intolerance and resistance to reconsidering prejudiced beliefs.

Compare:

• She recognized that she had an unfair prejudice and tried to correct it.
• He continued expressing bigotry despite being shown that his claims were false.

Prejudice may be unconscious or subtle. Bigotry often sounds more deliberate, hostile, or deeply established.

Discrimination concerns unfair treatment based on identity or group membership.

A person may hold bigoted beliefs without having an opportunity to act on them. When those beliefs affect hiring, housing, education, healthcare, or access to services, they may result in discrimination.

For example:

• Believing that gay people are inferior is bigotry.
• Refusing to hire someone because they are gay is discrimination.

The two often occur together, but they are not identical.

Bigotry generally describes severe or unreasonable intolerance directed at a group.

A person may be intolerant of a particular opinion without being bigoted. However, treating an entire group as inferior or undeserving because of identity is more accurately described as bigotry.

A person may express bigotry through contempt, disgust, fear, stereotyping, or beliefs about superiority without openly stating hatred.

Similarly, hatred toward one individual because of a personal conflict is not necessarily bigotry. It becomes group-based bigotry when hostility is directed at people because of their identity.

Examples include:

• racial or ethnic bigotry;
• religious bigotry;
• sexist bigotry;
• anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry;
• transphobic bigotry;
• xenophobic bigotry;
• ableist bigotry;
• class-based bigotry;
• caste-based bigotry.

These forms may overlap. A person can experience prejudice based on several identities at the same time.

• uses slurs;
• describes an entire group as inferior;
• presents stereotypes as facts;
• mocks names, accents, bodies, or identities;
• denies a group’s humanity or dignity;
• encourages exclusion;
• treats unequal rights as justified;
• blames a group for social problems.

Not every offensive statement is equally severe, but repeated degrading language can normalize unfair treatment and hostility.

People may challenge bigoted language by correcting misinformation, refusing to repeat slurs, supporting the targeted person, or explaining why the statement is harmful.

It may appear through:

• unequal hiring practices;
• exclusionary school policies;
• biased healthcare;
• unequal legal recognition;
• housing discrimination;
• restrictions on religious practice;
• denial of services;
• selective enforcement of rules;
• media stereotypes.

Institutional patterns may continue because of older rules, unexamined assumptions, or unequal power. Addressing them may require policy changes as well as changes in individual attitudes.

However, freedom of belief does not remove responsibility for how people are treated. A belief may become bigoted when it portrays an entire group as inferior, denies equal dignity, encourages harassment, or supports unequal rights solely because of identity.

It is possible to discuss difficult social or religious questions without using degrading stereotypes or denying another person’s humanity.

For example, someone may feel shame about their ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity because they have repeatedly heard that people like them are inferior.

Internalized bigotry may lead to:

• self-rejection;
• secrecy;
• distancing from one’s community;
• harsh judgment of similar people;
• pressure to hide identity;
• fear of being associated with a stigmatized group.

These reactions may result from social pressure and should not be treated as personal weakness.

Possible effects include:

• humiliation;
• fear;
• isolation;
• bullying;
• family rejection;
• employment discrimination;
• reduced access to services;
• pressure to hide identity;
• anxiety or lowered self-worth;
• harassment or violence.

It can also damage communities by increasing distrust, division, and unequal treatment.

Helpful approaches include:

• questioning stereotypes;
• learning from reliable sources;
• listening to affected communities;
• correcting false generalizations;
• reporting harassment;
• supporting equal policies;
• using respectful language;
• examining personal bias;
• refusing to treat one person as representative of an entire group;
• protecting people targeted by abuse.

Changing deeply held beliefs may take time, but silence can allow harmful ideas to appear acceptable.

Only openly hateful people are bigoted.
Bigotry may also appear through stereotypes, exclusion, or support for unequal treatment.

Bigotry and discrimination are identical.
Bigotry is an attitude or belief, while discrimination is unfair action or treatment.

Members of marginalized groups cannot express bigotry.
Anyone may hold prejudiced beliefs, although social power affects how widely those beliefs can be enforced.

Calling out bigotry means rejecting free speech.
People may have a right to express views, while others also have a right to criticize harmful or prejudiced claims.

• racial bigotry;
• religious bigotry;
• anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry;
• deep-seated bigotry;
• open bigotry;
• challenge bigotry;
• condemn bigotry;
• confront bigotry;
• bigoted beliefs;
• bigoted remarks.

• A worker is insulted because of their religion.
• A landlord refuses a tenant because of sexual orientation.
• A family rejects a relative for being transgender.
• A student challenges a racist stereotype in class.
• An organization removes an exclusionary policy.
• Someone recognizes and corrects a prejudiced belief.
• A public figure is criticized for making bigoted remarks.
• A community supports people targeted by religious intolerance.

1. The organization condemned bigotry in all its forms.
2. His remarks reflected deep racial prejudice and bigotry.
3. Disagreement is not the same as hostility toward an entire group.
4. The policy allowed bigoted assumptions to influence hiring.
5. She challenged the stereotype instead of remaining silent.
6. Bigotry may lead to discrimination and social exclusion.
7. The speaker used religion as an excuse for anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry.
8. Education can help people recognize unexamined prejudice.
9. The community supported those targeted by hateful language.
10. Respectful debate does not require accepting dehumanizing claims.

It may appear as homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, heterosexism, acephobia, or hostility toward people whose relationships or bodies do not fit dominant expectations. Such bigotry can pressure people to hide their identity, enter unwanted relationships, avoid healthcare, or tolerate harassment.

Respectful sexual culture allows people to hold different identities and form consensual relationships without being degraded or denied equal dignity. Challenging bigotry does not require everyone to share the same experiences or beliefs; it requires rejecting dehumanization, coercion, discrimination, and identity-based abuse.