Abstract
Indicating one’s sexuality is performed regularly and easily within everyday interaction, or more specifically, on talk-back radio to thousands of Radio National listeners across Australia. Such information is not simply gleaned indirectly via contextual references; rather it is referentially or directly indexed through other-person reference to wives, husbands or partners. Analysis of 20 talk-back radio programmes shows that callers index their sexuality even when sexuality is not the topic of conversation. Of 249 callers to Radio National, 34 referred to husbands, wives and partners, with 28 of these callers indicating that they were apparently in a heterosexual relationship. The following article initially analyses the way in which callers index their heterosexuality. This is then contrasted with the way in which nonheterosexuality is indexed on talk-back radio. By so doing, it demonstrates the way in which participants, callers and hosts orient to normative heterosexuality within everyday talk.