"Pieces of you" is right; I think that is a big part of what makes
someone a homophobe, and this confirms it. NOW I understand why
I never felt hate to anyone just for their being gay!
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THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE Dec. 18, 1996
435 N. Michigan Avenue,Chicago,IL,60611
(Fax 312-222-2598, print run 619,593)
(E-MAIL: tribletter@aol.com)
SEXUAL REACTIONS
AROUSAL SURVEY SUGGESTS DENIAL AMONG HOMOPHOBES
News briefs and tips on this page are compiled from Reuters, Associated Press
and Universal Press Syndicate
Web-posted Wednesday, December 18, 1996; 6:01 a.m. CST
It's an old adage, and once again shown to be true: What you hate most in
other people often is a reflection of what is inside you.
Henry Adams, a psychologist at the University of Georgia, was interested in
the link between sexual feelings and anti-gay violence. More than one-third
of homosexuals have been physically attacked at least once because of their
sexual orientation, and nearly all have been taunted or threatened in some
way.
Adams recruited 64 male heterosexual students and divided them into two
groups, which he labeled "homophobe" and "non-homophobe," depending on the
levels of dread and anger they described feeling when interacting with
homosexuals. He asked all the men to watch short erotic videotapes showing
lovemaking among heterosexuals, gay males and lesbians.
Then he measured their physical arousal. Both groups of men responded with
erections to the heterosexual and lesbian sex scenes. But 80 percent of the
homophobes -- compared to 34 percent of the nonhomophobes -- also got
erections when watching homosexual lovemaking, even though they claimed not
to feel turned on.
Sometimes anxiety can enhance arousal and erection, although Adams expressed
doubt that this explains the magnitude of the homophobic group's response.
Psychologists have long believed that some people who feel discomfort,
aversion and rage when they encounter gays are repressing homosexual urges.
Adams thinks the emotional confusion can lead to physical aggression.
"Most homophobic males don't want to believe that they can have some feelings
for the same sex," Adams say. "The intense fear that one might be homosexual
can trigger tremendous hostility."
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