A new study shows that a majority of homophobic people turn the inner turmoil they feel about their own same-sex attractions outward to attack the LGBT community. The study, which is set to be released in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology this month, is the third such study in recent years to come to the same conclusion.
If you’re wondering about that sound you just heard, it was a loud, collective Duh! from LGBT people everywhere. We figured out a long time ago that the ones who seem to hate us the most are the ones battling their own similar, inner desires.
While I understand the need for the study, which was conducted in the U.S. and Germany with 160 college-aged subjects, I don’t find its findings surprising at all. Hypocrisy is incredibly common and has reared its ugly head time and again in the national headlines.
Non-scientific studies have shown the exact same results of this study for decades. Remember Ted Haggard, the big-time preacher who talked about the sins of homosexuality from his pulpit, only to be found with a male escort in a hotel room in the mid 2000s? Senator Larry Craig was also anti-gay even after he was arrested for his enthusiastic toe-tapping in an airport restroom. And most recently, we have the Irish priest who unexpectedly showed a slide show of images depicting man-on-man sex acts to a room full of parents. He, being a member of the anti-gay Catholic Church, of course had no idea how those images made it onto his USB drive.
If it wasn’t so common, it would be laughable. But homophobia takes root within its offenders because they are uncomfortable with who they truly are. That’s when they lash out at those who are brave enough to live the life they want. Surely they were planted there as part of the Gay Agenda.
So what does this mean? Do we have a lot of closeted homosexuals in positions of power in this country? Okay, that may be a stretch, but the number of homophobic barbs flung by those seeking office seems to be worse now than ever.
Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum who’s chances of gaining his party’s nomination are fading faster than the sleeves of his sweater vests, especially since suspending his campaign April 10 is the most notorious homophobe of late.
He has vowed to reinstate Don’t Ask Don’t Tell to prevent service members from serving openly in our armed forces, promised to push a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage on a federal level and saved a young man the embarrassment of bowling with a pink ball at a campaign stop.
Yes, you read that last sentence correctly.
On March 27, while he campaigned in Wisconsin, the former Pennsylvania senator bowled with a college Republican group. When the college student reached for a pink ball that some of the young women had used, Santorum was caught on camera telling the young man that using a pink bowling ball was unacceptable especially on camera. Friends don’t let friends use pink bowling balls, he was heard saying.
Really?
While he shrugged the comment off as a joke, it is obvious Santorum is fearful of anything that links him to the LGBT community. Following the results of the scientific study, his fear of being linked to anything perceived as gay is a reaction of note.
Whether or not Santorum is secretly battling his own gay demons is a debatable statement more suited for an argument in an open forum. But his ongoing protests seem to only make his battle cry seem weaker.
Are all of the people fighting to keep rights away from us secretly gay? That’s highly unlikely. The study simply says that closeted people are more likely to show hostility toward same-sex couples or gay people. But the study goes on to mention that the environment in which a child is raised also influences their views on homosexuality which is again, no surprise.
Researchers said that subjects responded to statements like, It would be upsetting for my mom to find out she was alone with a lesbian, or, My dad avoids gay men whenever possible.
While the collective Duh of the LGBT community is expected when research like this yields these conclusions, we can only hope that those spouting their hatred can learn, eventually, to accept themselves for who they truly are.
