General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNYT: Homophobic? Maybe You’re Gay!
WHY are political and religious figures who campaign against gay rights so often implicated in sexual encounters with same-sex partners?
In recent years, Ted Haggard, an evangelical leader who preached that homosexuality was a sin, resigned after a scandal involving a former male prostitute; Larry Craig, a United States senator who opposed including sexual orientation in hate-crime legislation, was arrested on suspicion of lewd conduct in a mens bathroom; and Glenn Murphy Jr., a leader of the Young Republican National Convention and an opponent of same-sex marriage, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge after being accused of sexually assaulting another man.
One theory is that homosexual urges, when repressed out of shame or fear, can be expressed as homophobia. Freud famously called this process a reaction formation the angry battle against the outward symbol of feelings that are inwardly being stifled. Even Mr. Haggard seemed to endorse this idea when, apologizing after his scandal for his anti-gay rhetoric, he said, I think I was partially so vehement because of my own war.
Its a compelling theory and now there is scientific reason to believe it. In this months issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, we and our fellow researchers provide empirical evidence that homophobia can result, at least in part, from the suppression of same-sex desire.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/opinion/sunday/homophobic-maybe-youre-gay.html?_r=1&hp
This would explain a lot!!
AnnieBW
(10,425 posts)To be found out downloading gay porn. Or caught with a rent boy. He's so virulently anti-gay that he HAS to be in denial!
naaman fletcher
(7,362 posts)Just yesterday a DU'er hit the alert button over someone suggesting that homophobes were gay, and insisted that saying such was offensive.
Behind the Aegis
(53,956 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)naaman fletcher
(7,362 posts)Is one or two people claiming that a common thing progressives have said for decades is suddenly offensive.
obamanut2012
(26,069 posts)annabanana
(52,791 posts)Not the psychological problems that make them homophobic.
obamanut2012
(26,069 posts)siligut
(12,272 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)obamanut2012
(26,069 posts)It is offensive.