The Real Reason Christians (and Others) Get So Crazy About Gays

John Shore has a piece at Huffington Post which while tongue in cheek in someways looks at the bizarre emotions gays evoke in some and makes the case that power, not true religious belief that motivates the homophobes - that and their own psychological insecurities. He maintains that the Bible is a convenient crutch when an excuse is needed, but the quest for a sense of power - and money in the case of members of the whore-like professional Christian set such as James Dobson - is the true driving force. The flip side is that men and women who are secure in their own sexuality and sense of who they are don't get all crazed and hysterical over the issue of gays. Closet cases like Robert Knight and Peter LaBarbera truly take the crazy right off the charts, while those comfortable with themselves do not. Here are some column highlights:
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The reason is power. It's all about power. The problem Christians and others have with homosexuality isn't about sex. Nobody cares that much about what consenting adults do in the privacy of their bedrooms. Sure, it says in the Bible that homosexuality is bad. And of course that matters. As a Christian, what the Bible says certainly matters to me. But the Bible also says that slavery is good, and that women shouldn't speak in church, and that Christians should never eat shellfish, and on and on an on. We've long ago made our peace with the idea that sometimes we have to modify our understanding of Biblical texts---especially when (as is true with the Pauline proscriptions of homosexuality), there are sound reasons to question the way the text has been translated.
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What fuels the fiery hatred that so many Christians and others harbor for gays can't be explained by pointing to the Bible alone. Clearly something more visceral is going on with that.
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When you hear the word homosexual, what's the first thing that comes to mind? A gay man. It's always a gay man. It's gay men that get people out on the street waving signs and screaming. It's gay men about which people tend to get so emotional; in the main, that's what all the hate and anger is about.
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Why are we, both personally and societally, as reactive to gay men as we are? What is it about them that we hate so much? And the answer to that question is simple: they threaten the traditional power base of men. Here's the basic run of it inside a man's brain/heart/subconscious: I may not be much. But I'm a man. And that entitles me to a lot.
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[T]wo men together? Yikes. That's a problem for me. That's when all the walls in my world begin to crumble. Each of those men is my equal, my peer; they're my kind. If it's okay for them to be romantic with each other, then, for me, everything gets upended. [Oh, will you just stop already?!] Because where the heck does that leave me?
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Today, the ground beneath the personal politics and power of gender is shaking like a California earthquake. And grabbing onto your Bible won't stop that movement. Nothing can. Men are going to kiss men. And that will always seem intensely weird to straight people---just like men and women kissing will always seem intensely weird to gay people. It's a new world, y'all. And it's time to be brave about it.

Coming Out of "‘Situational Heterosexuality’

Joe Jervis has a quote at Joe By God from Former "ex-gay" evangelical minister Anthony Venn-Brown. Brown, now one of Australia's leading LGBT activists, where he says that gay men in heterosexual marriages engage in the opposite of the situational homosexuality found in prisons and other all same gender settings. Having been in a heterosexual marriage myself for 24 years , I think that Venn-Brown is on to something. Those of us gays who married and tried to do "what was expected" by family, society and/or our religious upbringings in effect engaged in straight relationships even thought that was not our true sexual orientation. We either did not know what else to do, wanted to have children, or simply could not admit to ourselves who we really were. Thus, you try to make it work even though in your heart you know its not complete and you continue to suffer from those pesky attractions to other males. You become the actor on the stage playing a role until the point comes where you simply no longer have the energy to keep up the performance either inwardly or outwardly. Here are some of Venn-Brown's comments on the phenomenon:
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"‘Situational heterosexuality’ is a term I’ve used for several years when people have asked how I could have been married for so many years and yet be gay. This term has also helped people gain a clearer understanding of what really happens when someone who is homosexual marries someone of the opposite sex and claims change. Confusion about what really happens in these situations still exists and often wrongly reinforces the ‘homosexuality is a choice’ and ‘homosexuals can change’ concept.
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"How often have you heard someone say something like this ‘They couldn’t be gay, they’re married’. When someone says that to me, I just remain silent for a while with a smile on my face (having been a gay man in a heterosexual marriage) and wait for what I’m actually thinking to sink into the consciousness of the person who made the naive statement."
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As much as "ex-gays" may seek to deny it - even to themselves - they have not changed their sexual orientation. Instead they have suppressed it at least for a time. That does not equate to permanent change.

The Disturbed Psyches of Homophobes

As I have frequently pointed out in my view extreme homophobes are in reality very disturbed individuals who have severe issues concerning their own sexuality and sexual matters in general. As a result, those who are comfortable with their own sexuality - particularly LGBT individuals - cause extreme emotional disturbance/fear in the sexually repressed set - like Matt Barber pictured at left - who belong to religious denominations that are literally obsessed with sex: e.g., the Roman Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention. James Hipps at GayAgenda that features an article by Rev. Dr. Jerry Maneker that looks at the underlying psychological problems of homophobes and how they project their own emotional/sexual issues against others, particularly gays. The bottom line analysis is that rather than attacking gay citizens, these folks would be better served by securing appropriate mental health intervention. Here are some highlights from Manaker's article:

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Sexuality is such a primal urge, that it manifests its energy in a variety of ways; not only in sexual activity. That energy that is part and parcel of one’s sexuality, especially when feared for all sorts of ostensibly “moral” reasons, or the fear that one’s currently repressed sexual complexities will come to consciousness, can be, and frequently is, directed to the perceived source(s) of anxiety provoked by that threat, an anxiety that the homophobic individual can find to be almost unendurable.
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One of the major defense mechanisms that one can use to minimize his/her anxiety provoked by that threatening stimulus, in this case of his/her sexual issues and/or repression that is provoked by LGBT people, is “displacement.”
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In the case of homophobic people, Gay people are the precise threat because they bring to the homophobe’s consciousness his/her sexual issues, largely because of the unfortunate equation that Gay=Sex. So, when vulnerable people are brought face to face with Gay people or the issue of equality for Gay people, that threat can be of enormous proportions triggering an anxiety of enormous proportions.
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Rather than seeing Gay people as posing no threat, as the defense mechanism of “displacement” posits, Gay people pose an enormous threat to the sexually vulnerable. Otherwise, why would strident homophobes be so insistent in making a veritable career out of defaming Gay people and doing everything in their power to prevent and/or rescind Gay people’s civil rights?

[W]hen one is stridently homophobic, not only does rationality play no part in being able to change their minds, but that person often resorts to irrational rhetoric (”traditional family values,” “for the good of the children,” etc.) to lessen hiWe must counter strident homophobia by asking such questions as: What are you so fearful of? Why do you evidence lack of sexual intactness by having to bear false witness against Gay people? What sexual issues are you repressing or suppressing so that you seek to deprive fellow human beings of equal rights based solely on their sexuality?
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What I am suggesting is that rather than play “defense” in the fight for LGBT equality, we take the “offense” and question and seek to analyze the emotional/sexual repressions and issues that seemingly coerce strident homophobes to make a veritable career out of irrationally maligning their fellow human beings based solely on their sexuality and gender expression.
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Ultimately, the issue of LGBT equality rests in the political-legal arenas, but the strident homophobia that seeks to prevent a constitutionally protected outcome for Gay people rests in the warped psyches of the sexually repressed homophobes who, by their bearing false witness and their resorting to irrational arguments to justify their homophobia, show themselves to have frail, if not warped, psyches worthy of public examination and analysis.
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Dr. Jerry S. Maneker is a Ph.D, and Professor Emeritus of Sociology at California State University, Chico, having been a professor there since 1970.

Why Women Are Leaving Men for Other Women

Just when the Christianists already have their panties in a total wad over gay marriage, Opray.com and CNN are putting out an article bearing the title of the caption of this post. Personally, I find it hilarious and maybe - if we are lucky - Maggie Gallagher, Matt Barber, Porno Pete and their allies will blow a gasket and keel over. Truth be told, thinking, rational Americans are increasingly accepting legitimate medical and mental health knowledge (as opposed to the fabricated crap put out by fraudulent "experts") that says sexual orientation is inborn. As a result, more and more LGBT Americans are feeling secure enough to accept their own sexual orientation.

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The tide of time and history are not on the side of the homo haters and as the older generation that is not gay friendly dies off, Maggie and company are going to find themselves increasingly isolated. As that happens, I believe we will hear increasingly shrill, hysterical rhetoric from the far right. Here are some highlights from the CNN story:

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Certainly nothing is new about women having sex with women, but we've arrived at a moment in the popular culture when it all suddenly seems almost fashionable -- or at least, acceptable. . . . Binnie Klein, a Connecticut-based psychotherapist and lecturer in Yale's department of psychiatry, agree that alternative relationships are on the rise.

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"It's clear that a change in sexual orientation is imaginable to more people than ever before, and there's more opportunity -- and acceptance -- to cross over the line," says Klein, noting that a half-dozen of her married female patients in the past few years have fallen in love with women. "Most are afraid that if they don't go for it, they'll end up with regrets."

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"When a taboo is lifted or diminished, it's going to leave people freer to pursue things," she says.
"So it makes sense that we would see women, for all sorts of reasons, walking through that door now that the culture has cracked it open. Of course, we shouldn't imagine that we're living in a world where all sexual choices are possible. Just look at the cast of 'The L Word' and it's clear that only a certain kind of lesbian -- slim and elegant or butch in just the right androgynous way -- is acceptable to mainstream culture."

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This idea, that the libido can wander back and forth between genders, Diamond admits, may be threatening and confusing to those with conventional beliefs about sexual orientation. But when the women she's interviewed explain their feelings, it doesn't sound so wild. Many of them say, for example, they are attracted to the person, and not the gender -- moved by traits like kindness, intelligence, and humor, which could apply to a man or a woman. Most of all, they long for an emotional connection. And if that comes by way of a female instead of a male, the thrill may override whatever heterosexual orientation they had.

Homophobia Result of Repressed Homosexual Urges

I have always believed that the extreme homophobes of the Christian Right who are a wee bit too hysterical about gays and gay sex in reality have some issues of their own in terms of their sexuality. I mean, think of shrill homophobes like Robert Knight (at left with whom I've had e-mail debates), Scott Lively, Tony Perkins, Peter LaBarbera, James Dobson - they are far, far too hysterical when the issue is homosexuality and out and proud gays. Now a new study appears to confirm what I - and I suspect many others have long sensed - these guys are self-hating closet queens and the seemingly undue hysteria stems from their repression of their own homosexual urges. Here are some highlights from SelfHelp Magazine:

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Psychoanalytic theory holds that homophobia - the fear, anxiety, anger, discomfort and aversion that some heterosexual people hold for gay individuals - is the result of repressed homosexual urges that the person is either unaware or denies. A study provides empirical evidence that is consistent with that theory.

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Researchers at the University of Georgia conducted an experiment involving 35 homophobic men and 29 non-homophobic men as measured by the Index of Homophobia scale. All the participants selected for the study described themselves as exclusively heterosexual both in terms of sexual arousal and experience.

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Each participant was exposed to sexually explicit erotic materials consisting of heterosexual, male homosexual and lesbian videotapes. Their degree of sexual arousal was measured by penile plethysmography, which precisely measures and records male erections. Men in both groups were aroused by about the same degree by a video depicting heterosexual sexual behavior and by a video showing two women engaged in sexual behavior. The only significant difference in degree of arousal between the two groups occurred when they viewed a video depicting male homosexual sex: "The homophobic men showed a significant increase in penile circumference to the male homosexual video, but the non-homophobic men did not."

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The psychoanalytic theory about homophobic men being tooted in repressed homesexuality has been around for decades. It will be fascinating to see how this research develops.

Reference: "Is Homophobia Associated With Homosexual Arousal?" by Henry E. Adams, Ph.D., Lester W. Wright, Jr., Ph.D. & Bethany A. Lohr, in Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Vol. 105, No. 3, pp 440-445.