LATE BREAKING NEWS!!!
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Most homophobes have homosexual feelings
Feb 5 2006
By Peter Tatchell, The Sunday Sun
Research by an acclaimed US psychologist suggests that 80 per cent of men who are homophobic have secret homosexual feelings.
This finding lends scientific support to the long-standing speculation that those who shout the loudest against homosexuality have something to hide.
The research results were published in the prestigious Journal of Abnormal Psychology, with the backing of the American Psychological Association.
In tests conducted by Prof. Henry E Adams of the University of Georgia, homophobic men who said they were exclusively heterosexual were shown gay sex videos.
Four out of five became sexually aroused by the homoerotic imagery, as recorded by a plethysmograph . . . a calibrated band fitted around the penis, which measures any enlargement.
Prof. Adams says his research shows that most homophobes "demonstrate significant sexual arousal to homosexual erotic stimuli" suggesting that homophobia is a form of "latent homosexuality where persons are either unaware of - or deny - their homosexual urges".
These findings prompt me to challenge this paper's columnist, Ken Oxley, to take the test. Last week Ken outed himself . . . declaring "I am homophobic".
Mind you, Ken is hardly the worst homophobe on the block. He very generously had a good word to say about me.
He also insisted he is not anti-gay; he just "feels uncomfortable" in gay people's company. But why? Ken's main gay bug-bears seem to be camp men, and seedy, hypocritical politicians.
Well, I don't have a problem with men who are by nature born effeminate. The idea that we all have to be manly is a bit out-dated and tyrannical. If men can't or won't conform to the masculine ideal, so what? I say: live and let live.
Many women seem to agree. They like men who are in touch with their feminine side; which is one reason why so many straight women enjoy the company of gay men.
Ken might, however, have a point about gay screamers like Graham Norton. Although a lovely man in private, Graham's stage persona is so clinched and stereotypical. Sometimes he comes across as a Larry Grayson mark two. Surely gay comedians can be a tad more inventive? Give me gay laugh-merchant Scott Capurro anytime. He takes gay humor in a whole new direction.
With regard to his other bugbear, Ken is right to loathe the two-faced gay MPs who sleaze around in private while publicly projecting a wholesome family-man image.
They give gay people a bad name and their dishonesty and hypocrisy corrodes public confidence in politicians. But hetero MPs are just as guilty, if not more so. Remember the scandals involving the "family values" of Tory MPs Cecil Parkinson, David Mellor and Piers Merchant?
Back to Prof. Adams. Ken Oxley's homophobic boast is now bound to result in speculation about his sexuality.
I am sure this is without foundation, but to pre-empt any innuendo, perhaps Ken should take Prof. Adams's test?
The professor's research confirms the old adage that homophobia is an expression of self-hating, repressed homosexuality.
Progressive schools of psychoanalysis have long theorized that homophobic prejudice involves the projection of fear and disgust concerning one's own homosexuality onto others. Those who cannot accept their same-sex desires, so the theory goes, vent their self-loathing through attacks on other people's homosexuality.
This homophobic defense mechanism is also often a bizarre form of over-compensation: maladjusted lesbians and gay men who feel guilty about their homosexuality become stridently anti-gay as a way of compensating emotionally for their self-shame.
In some cases, ostentatious homophobia is a deliberate ploy to deflect suspicions and rumors of homosexuality.
This ruse is based on the assumption that if someone acts homophobic other people will be less inclined to believe they are gay. Not any more, thanks to Prof. Adams.
I always make a point of referring to his research when doing talks in schools. It stops homophobic pupils in their tracks. Previously loud-mouthed bigots suddenly go quiet. What a pleasing thought. Thank you Prof. Adams.
