Comments

2
Well, that explains the Catholic bishops and their pope. Sick bunch, that crew.
3

Sounds like the problem that children of mixed "race" have. Am I this...or that, they ask themselves. And sometimes taking one position or the other to "prove" themselves in society. Maybe these facts argue that sex, like race, are spectra, not on-off switches.
5
I've been skeptical of the conclusion of this study (before anyone studied it, mind you) for years; not because it seemed unlikely, but precisely because it appeared too ironic, too tragic, to be true.

We're one hell of a species, aren't we?
6
I thought choosing hands with nail polish to hold the signs that are photoshopped into the headshots was a nice touch.
7
@4: it's clearly a trap. Either that, or someone has hacked his account.

(Okay, I'm starting to feel a little guilty here. Presumably we should be encouraging this kind of behavior. John! Hi! We like the new you!)
8
Yay, University of Rochester! (You should totally go there for Savage U, hint hint).
9
I'd feel sorry for them if they didn't do so much damage with their virulent homophobia.
10
What a vicious cycle this is, self-haters responsible for the lion's share of the hate mongering. A shame.
11
I wonder if people homosexual leanings who are raised in gay-friendly environments are especially accepting of homosexuals.
12
Not that I don't agree with the general conclusion, but given that these studies rely primarily on subliminal priming to trigger different responses, I'm skeptical of the methodology.

If they had used penile plethysmography to measure arousal, it would be harder to dispute.
13
@3 While your last line is pretty good, as a person of mixed-race background I don't identify with the first part of your idea at all. I never felt pressure to choose one side of my heritage over another, or wonder where I belonged. There was never any need to "prove" myself - my dad is Latino, my mom is white, we're all American and that was that. It didn't seem to matter to the people in my life either.

Now, I didn't grow up in an environment full of racial tension, and I don't particularly *look* like any particular race (unlike, say, Obama, who is half-white but we think of him as a black man), and so I'm not claiming my experience is universal.
14
The closet is simply a horrible place to live. You cannot survive there in a healthy way.
15
Yup, homophobia is so gay.
16
I assume the article has already passed peer review. It will be interesting to see what kind of response it gets from the wider professional (psychological) community.

The real fun, though, is going to be seeing what happens in the press and blogosphere. I expect some people to pop some aneurysms over this!
17
@16 (Not that I'm wishing that on anyone, mind you.) I just mean there will be a lot of frothing.

After I grew up, and got a sex life of my very own (which happens to be straight, if anyone is keeping score), I came to question the logic of homophobia, or lack thereof. I mean, who cares? As long as you're in a happy relationship, and getting laid, wtf do you care who else is getting what? I mean, I might question my sister's choice of partner on an individual basis, if he's a dipshit, because I feel protective of her, but I do not want to know what she's doing with him, when, where or how often, you know? And as far as anyone else, that I don't know, please spare me.

If two girls or two dudes find romantic happiness with each other, and none of them personally broke your heart in the process, just exactly, EXACTLY, how does it concern you? And even if they did, move on already. You only get one life, so get on with it.

A certain amount of prurient interest is probably unavoidable, but recognize it for what it is, and grow up!
18
Unsurprising, indeed. I wish, however, that more attention was paid to the issue of authoritarian parenting. From such a family myself, I think it's self-evident that authoritarian parenting models cause hosts of soon-to-be-projected internalized self-hatreds.
19
Darken his hair and the reverend person in the centre would look disturbingly like Sir Nick Faldo, who was content merely to tell his wife during or just before the (1995?) Ryder Cup matches that he was leaving her for a (female) college student about half her age. With the European team desperate not to upset their star player, the Euro wives froze her out, resulting in highly irregular cross-Atlantic supplications to the Loves of the US side for aid in dissuading him.
20
So don't be homophobic, homophobes, because people might think you're gay.

Jesus Christ, Dan, that is supremely unhelpful.

The most prevalent form of homophobia is the fear of being perceived as gay, which you will find in many people (cough men cough) who will happily tell you they've got nothing against teh gays.

The particular subset* of homophobes identified in this study will become more homophobic when you tell them you suspect they're gay. I'm all for taking an aggressive stance toward homophobia, but when you say shit like this, Dan, you're making the problem worse.

 

* there are also, of course, homophobes who don't have strong same-sex attractions. This study isn't about them, but that doesn't make them stop existing.
21
See, the reason why the GOP is so sturm und drang over this is precisely because half of this year's Presidential Primary Contenders are gay or married to gay spouses.

Nothing wrong with that, but there is with not admitting it.
22
@16,
I'll be interested to see the reaction from research psychologists as well.
It's published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JPSP) so it has already passed the highest levels of peer review. JPSP is the top journal in that area of psych and rejects probably around 90% of the articles submitted to it, so it's been run through the full gamut of criticisms and suggestions for alternative explantions.
23
We hate most in others what we hate in ourselves.
24
@20: Dude.
25
I am reminded of the recent Reuters interview in which Hunter College Professor (emirtus) Ken Sherrill was quoted as saying that the tone of the presidential campaign is going to be negative. I asked him if, in his expert opinion, the son was going to rise tomorrow. He "liked" the comment on FaceBook. (Ken is also an expert on gay rights, so I assume he would also see this as a sunrise issue.)
26
@12, totally agreed. I don't believe JPSP is the greatest in its field. It's actually considered a "B" journal. I know - JPSP has published three of my papers. Not that I mean that they don't have high standards and peer review - it's just easier to get published there than some other psych journals. It bothers me that the outcome measure of homosexual arousal was some psychological (projective?) test with possibly limited validity. That said, I do believe there has got to be a link between homophobia and closeted tendencies squashed by authoritarian parents. Just not sure this group of studies is the definitive proof.
27
A certain homosexually obsessed commenter who recently returned to Slog (I knew he wouldn't be able to stay away.) seems to be a textbook case of a homophobe with repressed homosexual desires. I mean really, what secure straight man thinks as much about gay people, and gay sex as Seattlebruise. His battles on Slog are really more about keeping his own homosexual desires in check than actually accomplishing something. All the hours he spends everyday of his life trolling here obsessing on Dan Savage are really just to keep SB away from the gay prostitutes.
29
@12 smartypants -- Actually, an earlier well known plethysmography study (Adams, 1996) left doubt in some because fear / anxiety can give some guys a mild boner (even though it's boner killing to others). So it's good the new team used other measures of same sex interest as we now have two studies over 15 years apart with very different stimuli and measures showing the same thing, homophobes = closet gays.

@26 nordica -- JPSP is #3 out of 58 social psychology journals, it's in the top tier of most difficult to publish in within its field, hardly a "B" journal. The article at Dan's link clearly describes a behavioral measure of sexual interest -- time spent browsing pics of hotties -- not a projective, plus RT to subliminal presentation of "gay" and "me" or "straight" and "me" -- RT to subliminal priming is well verified as a leading technique in social cognition and measuring implicit mental states. You sure you've had 3 papers in JPSP?!
30
All wonderful news and very ironic. Just remember that it won't matter one bit in terms of winning the culture war. I'd like to say it's because everyone respects the Aristotelian position that you can't legitimately attack an argument by attacking the character of the person who is advancing that argument. But really, it's because homophobia is all about personal gain/disdain, and nobody's ever rational about that stuff.
31
Did these studies include females? Last few similar ones i read did not.
32
I used to date an ex-biker, who was kind of terrifying-looking. Big muscles, bizarre tattoos, and a face that looked like it had been shoved through a plate-glass window. He could build a house or a car or a bike essentially from scratch, dress a deer and God help the poor dumb guy who ever started a fight with him. What really made him manly to me? The fact that he was gracious and polite, even mildly flirtatious, when gay men would occasionally come on to him. From his perspective, he knew who he was, and who was he to turn down a compliment? Most homophobic guys in my experience are either gay but deeply closeted or very insecure in their masculinity. And I'd say it's probably safe to assume that most homophobic guys are also misogynists, just because it means they're kind of obsessed with gender constructs.
33
@11- At least those folks with supportive parents don't have a double-whammy coming at them. I often think how much less homophobia I'd have packed around, had I had supportive, neutral parents, instead of the homophobic lot I ended up with. Could have spared me 15 years of my young adult life, an ex-wife & kids and a whole lot of pain trying to be straight for dear old dad when I knew from puberty it was the boy parts I was after.
The amount of time gay men waste trying to please their homophobe fathers is staggering.
34
"And I'd say it's probably safe to assume that most homophobic guys are also misogynists"

Word. Hating the little bit of feminity in a man = hating feminity. Also explains how the homophobes don't hate lesbians so much (because they're at least aspiring to be masculine*).

*The homophobes' thinking, not mine.
35
Yet Another Reasons for the right wing to Hate Science. Because, you know, reality has a well-known liberal bias.
36
For a long time, I didn't get *at all* where the idea came from that being gay was a lifestyle choice. I mean, I had my first crush at age 6- who the hell chooses who they're attracted to at age 6? Then all the Ted Haggart-like stories came out. "Oh, I get it. All the people who say it's a choice are actually attracted to the same sex themselves, but are trying really hard not to act on it." Hence the repeated homophobic statements. And we've all seen how well this "choice" to be straight turns out in the long run.
37
@34, I dunno, I think they hate lesbians too - the implied automatic rejection, ya know? Everyone's a threat, I think, when you can't embrace your own identity.
38
@29, you're right. I should have read the article in Dan's link before making assumptions about the outcome measures. I'm still not convinced these are the best measures of implicit mental state (since there is no way to ever measure what someone is hiding or does not even know about one's self). But these results are not to be ignored and offer some more evidence of what is more and more obvious about how our society is shaping every new generation of homophobic jerk.
39
Really really straight guys -- guys who get boners about girls -- don't give a SHIT about gays. How to identify a straight guy? He says things like: "Let them get fucking married. I don't give a shit. Let them be happy." Only the weirdo guys have an issue, and the the straight guys don't like them. "What's up with him?"
40
Fortunately, Mr Out, not all of us.

From "Love and Freindship" (Miss Austen's original spelling):

"My Father, seduced by the false glare of Fortune and the Deluding Pomp of Title, insisted on my giving my hand to Lady Dorothea. No never exclaimed I. Lady Dorothea is lovely and Engaging; I prefer no woman to her; but know Sir, that I scorn to marry her in compliance to your wishes. No! Never shall it be said that I obliged my Father."
41
So, the driving force behind homophobia is closeted bi's? Makes sense to me. I'm reminded of the Senator Jesse Helms of NC getting all het up over "homo erotic" images in a National Council for the Arts show of the work of Robert Mapplethorpe. It only made me wonder, "How do you know about that Jesse?"

42
@27 You may be onto something Rob. When SB rants about gays destroying marriage it may be that the marriage he is most worried about is his own.
43
Back in the late 80s in the Marine Corps an old, lifelong bachelor/gymrat, Company Gunny went off on our whole Company at Afternoon formation (muster/parade for the other services) once about "all you faggots out there" screaming "Yeah I see you checking each other out," "I know who you are." I was thinking "wow, I don't see them/know who they are." "Must be what they call 'gaydar' ........ ah haaaa!"
44
A pretty important news item:
http://tinyurl.com/864xs75

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