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Homophobia is Self-Phobia

Fri, 04/20/2012 - 08:14
Submitted by Lawrence Lanoff

It was a horrific sound–like a watermelon cracking–as a teenage boy with a baseball bat hit a gay man in the back of his head.

Homosexual hating boys swarmed Washington Square Park that summer evening in the 1970's, taking it upon themselves to "wipe out fags."

I was just a kid at the time, but It always struck me that these young, fit, gang-boys, dressed in white muscle tees and tight blue jeans, were so obsessed with hating the gay men whose Christopher Street style they emulated.

A new study documents the role that parenting and hidden sexual orientation plays in gay-phobia. It's the first of its kind to explain some of the deeper psychological dynamics behind bullying and gay hate crimes. It suggests that intense homophobic reactions are more pronounced in people with unacknowledged attractions to members of the same sex.

This is especially true if they were raised by authoritarian parents who react strongly against homosexuality. People who identify as straight, but have visceral fears of homosexuals, homophobic attitudes, open hostilities and enthusiastic endorsement of anti-gay policies may actually be waging a sexual orientation war within themselves. Phobic hatred may be a projection of hidden and confused parts at war with familial attitudes, morals, pressures and beliefs.

The bottom line: The findings suggest that if people are feeling intense reactions to any out-group, they may best be served by looking inside of themselves for those hated tendencies first.

We Suggest: 
Seriously, Why is Figuring Out My Sexuality So Confusing?
The Invention of Sexual Orientation
Sexual Orientation Trumps Humanity?
Sophia Loren Lip Locked with a Lady
Tantric Master. Creator of Tantra-X Training, President of Pleasure
lawrencelanoff.com

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That violence you described is awful

Fri, 04/20/2012 - 09:52
Jake E

What your describing where "intense homophobic reactions are more pronounced in people with unacknowledged attractions to members of the same sex" was observed a few times by Quentin Crisp in his book the naked civil servant. (though I saw the movie I haven't read the book :)

I support  and respect anyones sexual orientation regardless of how good or bad they are and I always find it strange, that people who want to assault particularly gay men see them as a caricature, as people they can assault with impunity, who won't fight back or present them with any kind of danger, but don't connect that to the large amounts of documented male rape and sexual assault that happens in jail. or make the connection between that and the fact that people aren't in jail forever or that dangerously violent people who are  gay are right now walking around for them to bump into and verbally abuse. 

Self-phobia and homophobia

Fri, 04/20/2012 - 15:15
Patrick_R

I remember a tragedy that took place in connection with the Jenny Jones show. A gay man and his male neighbor were the guests, and the gay man told his neighbor that he had a crush on him. The neighbor ended up murdering the gay man, apparently unable to deal with his own unconscious attractions. He was so afraid of his own inclinations that he tried to "kill them off" by killing the man who had triggered his anxieties. I would say that any violent expression of hatred is a direct projection of self-hate. These tragedies would never occur if we had a culture more accepting of human variation, and education that promoted self-understanding and self-compassion. The more we truly understand ourselves, the more kindness and understanding we will have to offer others.

Patrick

Fri, 04/20/2012 - 16:20
Jake E

Quote:
Patrick wrote
and education that promoted self-understanding and self-compassion.
   
That's a really good point

Brooker on homophobia

Sat, 04/21/2012 - 05:15
Lady Grinning Soul

Charlie Brooker's article about homophobia and video games this week was great. The first two paragraphs in particular, if you want a laugh about homophobes.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/15/charlie-brooker-gay-video-game

Ha ha

Sat, 04/21/2012 - 07:21
Jake E

Don't fight the big gay penis in your head

Love it :)

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