Are Homophob Really Gay? | Psychology Today

gay homophobe

Homophobia may stem om a person's own hidn homosexualy, fds new rearch on the lk between anti-gay behavrs and parentg style.

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ARE HOMOPHOBIC PEOPLE REALLY GAY AND NOT ACCEPTG IT?

Cred: Getty ImagHomophob should nsir a ltle self-reflectn, suggts a new study fdg those dividuals who are most hostile toward gays and hold strong anti-gay views may themselv have same-sex sir, albe unrver on. The prejudice of homophobia may also stem om thorarian parents, particularly those wh homophobic views as well, the rearchers add.

The rearch, published the April 2012 issue of the Journal of Personaly and Social Psychology, reveals the nuanc of prejudic like homophobia, which n ultimately have dire nsequenc. "Sometim people are threatened by gays and lbians bee they are fearg their own impuls, a sense they 'doth prott too much, '" Ryan told LiveScience.

ARE HOMOPHOB REALLY GAY?

The rearchers said quicker reactn time for "me" and "gay, " and a slower associatn of "me" wh "straight" would dite said an implic gay orientatn. " To gge homophobia a hoehold, stunts rpond to ems such as, "It would be upsettg for my mom to fd out she was alone wh a lbian" or "My dad avoids gay men whenever possible. Participants dited their own level of homophobia, both overt and implic; word-pletn tasks, stunts wrote down the first three words that me to md when prompted wh some of the words' letters.

"In a predomately heterosexual society, 'know thyself' n be a challenge for many gay dividuals, " lead thor Netta Weste, a lecturer at the Universy of Essex the Uned Kgdom, said a statement. Those participants who reported their heterosexualy spe havg hidn same-sex sir were also the most likely to show hostily toward gay dividuals, cludg self-reported anti-gay attus, endorsement of anti-gay polici and discrimatn such as supportg harsher punishments for homosexuals. People nial about their own sexual orientatn, perhaps a nial fostered by thorarian and homophobic parents, may feel a threat om other gay and lbian dividuals.

And 2010, proment anti-gay activist and -founr of nservative Fay Rearch Council Gee Rekers was reportedly spotted 2010 wh a male rt rented om Acrdg to news reports, the rt nfirmed Rekers is gay. People who intify as lbian, gay, or bisexual may experience harassment or discrimatn om people who are sred of or unfortable wh the inti. Homophobia n take many different forms, cludg negative attus and beliefs about, aversn to, or prejudice agast bisexual, lbian, and gay people.

THE MYTH OF THE VLENT, SELF-HATG GAY HOMOPHOBE

This may mean that they feel disfort and disapproval wh their own same-sex attractns, never accept their same-sex attractns, or never intify as lbian, gay, or bisexual. People alg wh ternalized homophobia may feel the need to “prove” that they’re straight, exhib very stereotypil behavr of straight men and women, or even bully and discrimate agast openly gay people. People who experience homophobic, biphobic, or transphobic harassment often feel alone and are aaid to tell anyone what’s happeng.

Other LGBTQ people Your lol LGBTQ muny center Onle muni of LGBTQ people Q Chat Space is a way for LGBTQ+ teens to nnect wh each other through live-chat group discsns — no matter where they are Tsted LGBTQ adults that you may already know, such as fay members or teachers Straight people who are alli to LGBTQ people A Gay/Straight Alliance at your high school, if applible. If you feel safe dog so, speak up when other people are beg homophobic or biphobic, such as makg offensive jok, g negative language, or bullyg or harassg someone bee of their sexual orientatn or inty.

Thk about the lumny agast gay people throughout most of our lifetim: that gay people somehow are moltg kids, or after kids, or predatory. And led to a 1978 California ballot measure to ban gays and lbians om workg public schools, an iative spearhead by state Sen. John Briggs, who promised, "We are gog to rtore moraly to the classroom and remove openly and blatant homosexuals om fluencg and teachg our young.

ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL

"If somebody tried to mpaign today on endg gay marriage, they would get so ltle tractn outsi the most ge elements, and yet, even five years ago, that wasn't an extreme posn.... Neil Rafferty, the only openly gay member of his state's legislature, remas optimistic, even the face of Alabama passg some of the untry's harsht anti-LGBTQ laws.

"When we showed gay people, " he says, "when we elevated the voic of gay people as part of the nversatn — and I say this as someone who is gay — we wanted to show the gay people as part of a fay, the gay people as part of a workplace, the gay people this se as part of a classroom. A seri of studi recently published the prtig Journal of Personaly and Social Psychology found higher levels of homophobia dividuals wh unacknowledged attractns to the same sex, particularly when they grew up wh thorarian parents who also held homophobic attus.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY HOMOPHOBE

The Myth of the Vlent, Self-Hatg Gay Homophobe -- Science of Us .

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