Essay On Internalized Homophobia

In the article, How Homophobia Hurts Everyone by Warren J. Blumenfeld, Blumenfeld describes his experience growing up as a homosexual, and how homophobia affected him, as well as his family and peers. To begin, homophobia can be separated into two different catergories, personal homophobia and interpersonal homophobia. Personal homophobia can be described as a personal belief system, or prejudice that homosexuals, bisexual and transgender people are entitled to, should be disliked or remain powerless, due to their desires. They are also sometimes seen as psychologically disturbed, genetically modified or defective and overall, unfortunate human beings. While on the other hand, interpersonal homophobia refers to the personal prejudice or bias that affects relationships within individuals. An example of interpersonal homophobia could be making a joke, name calling, or insulting certain individuals or groups. This can be either verbal, physical or intimidation related.

‘Homophobia is a feeling of prejudice or negative attitudes and feelings towards homosexual or people who identify or perceive themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.’ People who are homosexual feel that they were born the way they are and cannot change their orientation. Society dislikes them and sees them as a threat. They believe it is immoral, unnatural, unacceptable, and deserve to be hated. One main reason why people can’t accept homosexual people is because they feel that what they are feeling is being portrayed as sick, nonexistent, or confused of what they are. It has lead to many suicidal deaths of teens and bullying in schools and judgements of people.

The mental health of individuals in the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) community is something that is a serious problem. For most of the history of the United States and many different parts of the world LGBT people faced much persecution and in some cases even death. This constant fear of discovery and the pressure that one feels on oneself when “in the closet” can lead to major mental distress. Research has shown that people who identify as LGBT are twice as likely to develop lifetime mood and anxiety disorders (Bostwick 468). This is extremely noticeable the past couple years in the suicides of bullied teens on the basis of sexual identity and expression. The stigma on simply being perceived as LGBT is strong enough to

Many psychologists have analyzed homosexual individuals throughout the history of psychology and attempted to explain their behavior. Freud considered a homosexual individual to have suffered from the Oedipus complex during childhood without proper identification with the opposite sex parent. Lesbians tend to have a negative attitude

Sexual orientation is “the clear, persistent desire of a person for affiliation with one sex rather than the other”, otherwise known as sexual preference. (http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com) Prejudice against lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transsexuals (otherwise known as LGBT people) remain widespread in American society. LGBT people have always been a target for discrimination. Like other forms of prejudice, this discrimination is based on a hostile attitude toward a specific group and in this case minority. The current strides in the controversy of the legalization of the same sex marriage is a prime example of this discrimination. Sexual orientation prejudice

Being gay and a teenager, I’ve obviously had times where I’ve dealt with homophobia. I’ve accepted that, and it doesn’t bother me much. Mostly because It doesn’t affect me for the most part. Some kids get a kick out of making fun of me, good for them, doesn’t really make a difference to me. However, one time I did let it get to me. Not because it hurt me or made me upset about myself, but because it was hurting someone

Amid the previous decade antigay viciousness has turned into a conspicuous social issue (Berrill, 1990). The National Gay and Lesbian Team reported 7,008 grievances of brutality and badgering against gay people in 1987 contrasted and 4,946 in 1986 and 2,042 in 1985 (Herek, 1989). Over various overviews Berrill (1992) discovered badgering and viciousness to be boundless and developing. Learns at the Colleges of Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania State, Yale, Rutgers, Oberlin, and Oregon have chronicled antigay scenes extending from verbal affront to physical roughness.

People are quick to judge when someone is different or out of the mainstream is. The judgments from others make it harder for people to accept who they are and in turn cause them to be afraid of who they are. “Of course, in a culture where homosexuals remain hidden and wrapped in self-contempt, in which their emotional development is often stunted, and late, in which the closet protects all sorts of self-destructive behavior that a more open society would not…” (Source F). By “hiding in the closet” they are being withheld from growing as a person. They cannot be the person they are and instead loathing it. They lose what made them an individual and instead are trying to conform to be normal.

Intolerance impacts multiple sectors of society with far-reaching effects on the gay community. Due to the amount of intolerance in society these days, the gay community is facing persecution. Verbal abuse, physical violence and hate crimes are some effects of persecution against gay people. The verbal abuse is often a way to discriminate against people for their sexual orientation. Verbal abuse has a big impact on the victim’s life. The victim may feel unsure and isolated. Also, bullying and bashing are very common ways to persecute against a person who is gay. Gay bashing and bullying include negative attitudes that leads homophobic people to

However, at current, homosexual couples are still suffering from various forms of socio-economic and cultural injustice. Lesbian, gay and bisexual people are more likely to experience intolerance, discrimination, harassment, and the threat of violence, than those whom identify themselves as heterosexual, due to their sexual orientation. This mistreatment originates from the concept of homophobia – a fear or hatred of homosexuality. This hatred may be reinforced by a number of factors, including: moral, religious, and political beliefs of a dominant group. Despite the encouraging progress same sex couples have made throughout this century, deeply embedded homophobic attitudes, often combined with inadequate legal protection against informal discrimination, on the grounds of sexual orientation, exposes many lesbian, gay and bisexual people, of all ages, to deplorable violations of their human rights. They are often discriminated against in schools and hospitals, while being mistreated and disowned by their own families. They are frequently singled out for physical attack – beaten, sexually assaulted, or

Many homophobes can trace their fear of homosexuality to their defensiveness about their own homosexual tendencies. This theory is one that has been around for some time, since Freud's time actually. Freud believed that heterosexual men who fear homosexual men do so because they defend against their own feelings for men( Goleman 3). Though old, this theory is still the diagnosis of many present homophobes. Many men are frightened by the thought that they mat have a gay neighbor, and this fear is shared by the children.

Homosexuality is a trending topic especially with the issue of gay marriage in Utah. As a heterosexual college woman, I have received negative and positive messages about homosexual orientation. Large amounts of adverse criticism concerning the issue began in my town and school. Most supporting messages came later in life, specifically attending college and moving to Salt Lake City. And while there seems to be a shift in societal views towards positive connotations regarding gay and lesbian, some negatives still hold power. Particularly, homosexual relationships and people are bad.

Most homophobism stems from people not understanding what it means to be queer. “An estimated 3.5% of adults in the United States identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, and an estimated 0.3% of adults are transgender”(Gates 1). Since so few people identify themselves under one of those categories, not many people understand what it means. Someone who is a lesbian is a girl attracted to a

In a recent meta-analysis by Kite and Whitley in 1996, it was confirmed that men hold more negative attitudes toward homosexuality than do women. They also determined that men's attitudes toward homosexuality are particularly negative when the person being rated is a gay man rather than a lesbian. Their review of the literature also highlighted the complex nature of attitudes toward homosexuality noted by others. In order to understand the constructive attitudes of homosexuality, there are several factors that include beliefs that gay people are threatening or dangerous, etc. I reviewed Millham, San Miguel, & Kellogg, 1976; Plasek & Allard, 1984. These complexities, and how they influence sex differences in attitudes toward

It takes great courage to say, I am a homosexual. It needs even greater humbleness to put up with the statement: What did you say? You are a homosexual. The complexity of the homosexual behavior generates an obvious question in my mind as to why society looks down upon deviant sexual orientations like homosexuality. Is it because the homosexuals behave in a way which is not normal, or which is not practiced by the ‘bulk’? Or is it because the ‘bulk’ tries to ignore the harsh trutha truth which attacks his conscience generated out of his socialization that the ‘bulk’ of such bulk does have deviant sexual tendencies at some moment of time, which even gets manifested? The society at large impute taboos and stigmatizes