The Psychology of the Closeted Individual and Coming Out - 2007
by Jack Drescher, M.D
Many LGB individuals report developmental histories with difficulty acknowledging their homosexuality, either to themselves or to others. This is because, starting in childhood,
LGB individuals are often subjected to antihomosexual attitudes, not
only from strangers, but also from their own families and communities
(Drescher, Stein and Byne, (2005). The childhood need to hide may
persist into adulthood, leading many LGB individuals to conceal
important aspects of themselves…Closeted individuals cannot acknowledge homoerotic feelings,
attractions and fantasies to themselves. They cannot or will not
integrate homosexuality into their public personae and these feelings
must be dissociated out of conscious awareness…
Some
gay men, before coming out, were either gay-baiters or gay-bashers. To
maintain a psychological distance from their own homoerotic feelings,
they also exhibit dissociative tendencies.
Attacking those perceived to be gay can serve several functions. One
penile plethysmography study indicated that men with strong
antihomosexual beliefs actually had significant homosexual arousal
patterns (Adams, 1996). Interpersonally, strong antihomosexual feelings
may represent
an effort to control perceptions of a gay-basher’s own sexual identity. If they attack gay people, others will not think of them as gay...
Read complete paper:
Homophobic Attitudes
Likely To Be Stronger Among Those Who Have Repressed Same-Sex Attraction: Report – 4/09/12
A
new study has confirmed what many in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender (LGBT) community have suspected for some time: that
homophobic attitudes are likely to be more pronounced among those who've experienced unacknowledged attraction towards members of the same sex. Photo
…published this month in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology… The findings provide new evidence to support the psychoanalytic theory that fear, anxiety, and aversion that toward gays and lesbians can grow out of a seemingly heterosexual individual's own repressed same-sex desires, co-author Richard Ryan, professor of psychology at the University of Rochester who helped direct the research, told Science Daily.
"In
many cases these are people who are at war with themselves and they are
turning this internal conflict outward," Ryan is quoted as saying. "We
laugh at or make fun of such blatant hypocrisy, but in a real way, these
people may often themselves be victims of repression and experience
exaggerated feelings of threat. Homophobia is not a laughing matter."
Read more:
ScienceDaily
(Apr. 6, 2012) — Homophobia is more pronounced in individuals with an
unacknowledged attraction to the same sex and who grew up with authoritarian parents who forbade such desires, a series of psychology studies demonstrates.
The
study is the first to document the role that both parenting and sexual
orientation play in the formation of intense and visceral fear of
homosexuals, including self-reported homophobic attitudes,
discriminatory bias, implicit hostility towards gays, and endorsement of anti-gay policies…
Read more:
Is Homophobia Associated With Homosexual Arousal?
By Henry E. Adams, Lester W. Wright, Jr., and Bethany A. Lohr, University of Georgia - 1996
…Hostility and discrimination
against homosexual individuals are well-established facts (Berrill,
1990). On occasion, these negative attitudes lead to hostile verbal and
physical acts against gay individuals with little apparent motivation
except a strong dislike (Herek, 1989). In fact, more than 90% of gay men
and lesbians report being targets of verbal abuse or threats, and more
than one-third report being survivors of violence related to their
homosexuality (Fassinger, 1991). Although negative attitudes and
behaviors toward gay individuals have been assumed to be associated with
rigid moralistic beliefs, sexual ignorance, and fear of homosexuality,
the etiology of these attitudes and behaviors remains a puzzle (Marmor,
1980). Weinberg (1972) labeled these attitudes and behaviors homophobia, which
he defined as the dread of being in close quarters with homosexual men
and women as well as irrational fear, hatred, and intolerance by
heterosexual individuals of homosexual men and women… Photo
Read more:
Journal of Abnormal Psychology, American Psychological Association, Inc.
1996, Vol. 105, No. 3,440—445
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