Gaydar

Gaydar, in its most general sense, refers to the ability (or inability) to sense whether someone is homosexual based on observation or intuition. Gaydar judgments can be made explicitly and deliberately, or unintentionally and outside of conscious awareness. Gaydar is deeply relevant in contemporary society because many arguments against legal nondiscrimination protections for homosexual people center on the premise that a homosexual person cannot be discriminated against if the person does not explicitly state his or her sexual orientation. Gaydar is also part of the daily lives of many people, regardless of sexual orientation, who are seeking to identify friends, mates, sexual competitors, sexual noncompetitors, and so on. Gaydar may be even more relevant to the daily lives of the targets of gaydar perceptions, who ...