There has been speculation that some homophobes are really gay and their hate is an outgrowth of their unwillingness to come to grips with who they really are. Recently a few studies appear to confirm this - from The New York Times.
...we identified a subgroup of participants who, despite self-identifying as highly straight, indicated some level of same-sex attraction (that is, they associated “me” with gay-related words and pictures faster than they associated “me” with straight-related words and pictures). Over 20 percent of self-described highly straight individuals showed this discrepancy.
Notably, these “discrepant” individuals were also significantly more likely than other participants to favor anti-gay policies; to be willing to assign significantly harsher punishments to perpetrators of petty crimes if they were presumed to be homosexual; and to express greater implicit hostility toward gay subjects (also measured with the help of subliminal priming). Thus our research suggests that some who oppose homosexuality do tacitly harbor same-sex attraction.
What leads to this repression? We found that participants who reported having supportive and accepting parents were more in touch with their implicit sexual orientation and less susceptible to homophobia. Individuals whose sexual identity was at odds with their implicit sexual attraction were much more frequently raised by parents perceived to be controlling, less accepting and more prejudiced against homosexuals.
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This is sad - there is nothing wrong with being gay. The only wrong is the evil anti-gay bigotry that some cling to and the evil encouraged by law, politics and religion. Perhaps if the societal penalties didn't exist these people could live normal happy lives.
Hate is such a terrible disease ... hypocrisy is nearly as bad and the two are often coupled.
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