Throughout history, minority groups have been dehumanized by others who portray those who are different as subhuman, and such dehumanization has corrupted society. Gays and persons infected with AIDS are particularly susceptible to this phenomenon. Gays constitute a minority group who suffer discrimination because they are different from the predominantly heterosexual culture. For gays and other minority groups, civil rights laws do not create rights, nor do they aware special benefits. Rather, they attempt to preclude the most frequent bases of discrimination that accompany dehumanization: race, religion, sex, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. 70 footnotes