A total of 71 (48 female and 23 male) students read a two- paragraph description of a battering incident that involved either a heterosexual or lesbian couple and then gave their impressions of the cases through a series of open-ended and closed-ended questions. Scenarios were identical except for the manipulation of sexual partner as the same or opposite sex. Experience and/or education with battered and/or gay/lesbian clients was also examined. The results show that subjects perceived the heterosexual battering incident as more violent than the lesbian battering incident and would be more likely to charge the male batterer than the female batterer with assault. Differences in treatment recommendations were made according to sexual orientation of the victim. Less than half of the respondents had coursework or practical experience that pertained to domestic violence and/or gay/lesbian concerns. Suggestions for future research, 1 table, and 22 references