Why ’s still sry to be gay | The Seattle Tim

Contents:

• I'M AAID THAT I'M GAY
• HOCD – HOMOSEXUAL OCD OR THE FEAR OF BEG GAY
• 'HOMOSEXUAL OCD': STRAIGHT MEN WHO SPECT THEY ARE GAY
• I’M MALE AND I AM AAID THAT I MIGHT BE GAY
• HOW TO KNOW IF YOU ARE GAY
• WHY ’S STILL SRY TO BE GAY

I'M AAID THAT I'M GAY

There are many gay men who say "I'm not part of the scene" -- men who hate gay bars and, prumably, crowds of queer people general.

Internalized homophobia -- self-shamg, self-hatred -- leads many gay men, and many queer people general, to recreate their closets long after they're "out" by shunng others, particularly those they nsir "flamboyant.

HOCD – HOMOSEXUAL OCD OR THE FEAR OF BEG GAY

This parable piece by lbian wrer Sarah Prager go through the lp of great gays who changed the world -- om ventor Alan Turg to Tchaikovsky, the poser, to the Renaissance pater and ventor Leonardo da Vci. Read the numbers: In four years, more than 5, 596 people the Uned Stat had died of AIDS, many of them gay men and transgenr women. Fd a gay elr who's been where you are and r for your well-beg, someone who unrstands you and never pass judgment, someone who lets you make the mistak you need to make.

There would be no ternalized self-hatred if no one had ever told you that beg gay is wrong, or that gay sex is disgtg, or that gay men n't feel real love, or that beg transgenr is fake, or that beg nonbary is a mental illns or a ll for attentn.

If you thk a word like "gay" or "queer" works for you right now (aga, don't have to work for you forever -- labels do not e wh lifetime ntracts) and you're not ready to tell everyone, simply say out loud to yourself. People who experience homosexual OCD may experience obssns surroundg the uncertaty of their attractn or potential attractn to people of their same genr.

'HOMOSEXUAL OCD': STRAIGHT MEN WHO SPECT THEY ARE GAY

In the past, some have ed the term “Homosexual OCD” to refer to them wh Sexual Orientatn OCD that volve doubts or tsive thoughts about attractn to people of the same genr, ntrary to one’s own inty.

People who experience homosexual them Sexual Orientatn OCD may experience obssns surroundg the uncertaty of their attractn or potential attractn to people of their same genr.

I’M MALE AND I AM AAID THAT I MIGHT BE GAY

Homosexual OCD do not mean that someone is aaid of beg attracted to people of the same genr, but rather that they are aaid of the uncertaty they feel about their own inty and sir. Someone wh homosexual them Sexual Orientatn OCD is not necsarily aaid of havg one sexual orientatn or another; rather, their abily to feel sure of their own sexualy and inty signifint distrs.

Guilt or shame n pop up for someone wh homosexual OCD if they are a heterosexual relatnship and feel rponsible for potentially wastg their partner’s time or g them grief if they e to the realizatn down the le they are fact gay, lbian, or queer.

Homosexual them Sexual Orientatn OCD n lead people to overanalyze unwanted physil sensatns they experience rponse to stimuli om the same genr, and terpretg this sensatn to be a “sign” that they actually are nial of their sexualy. When people wh fear of beg gay experience tsive thoughts, imag, feelgs, or urg that e distrs, they may engage pulsns, both physil and mental. Where a tly gay person obtas happs and relief the act of revealg their homosexual orientatn, HOCD people who “e out” ntue to doubt their sexualy.

HOW TO KNOW IF YOU ARE GAY

As wh tradnal OCD, people who are affected by this ternalized homophobia engage ruals to help them alleviate their anxiety and prove to themselv that they are tly straight.

They might also perform washg ruals if they are around a gay person, may act overtly to assure themselv of their sexual orientatn, or may even blatantly act out agast gay people orr to prove they are straight. Addnally, HOCD sufferers might avoid physil ntact or beg alone wh gay people and may even rry this behavr to shunng same-sex public rtrooms or not eatg public se the food was prepared by a gay person.

WHY ’S STILL SRY TO BE GAY

Durg therapy ssns the patient fac the suatns that trigger their obssns orr to learn how to al wh their ternalized homophobia and rce their fixatn.

If they don’t, they may unsel the person to help them accept their homosexualy which will only aggravate the person’s HOCD symptoms. If HOCD has left you stgglg wh relentls qutns about your sexual inty, HOCD: Everythg You Didn’t Know – A Primer for Unrstandg & Overg Homosexual Obssive Compulsive Disorr, a book by Dr. In an environment of growg acceptance, we nmn homophobic feelgs, particularly men, bee we thk they e om si the dividual and are th his full rponsibily.

However, the ntued existence of homophobia—spe the obv downsis—rais qutns about s basic nature: Do psychologil theori like those above really expla why gayns, specifilly, evok such fear, the kd that n sometim even lead to vlent speech and actn? The only way to answer the qutns is to stop thkg of homophobia as a personal choice and unrstand as the evable and liberate rult of the culture which Amerin men are raised. Put another way, the zero-tolerance le means that if a man mak one “wrong” move—kiss another man a moment of dnken fun, say—he is immediately assumed to be gay.