Repression = Aggression Against an Entire Population in the Name of God

Last updated on May 21st, 2012 at 03:45 pm

The homophobic flood gates opened and the sewers are filling with hate and self-loathing by voices consumed by fear. Because this is an article and not a book I am limited by space and will name only a few of the top personalities that come to mind who wage war daily – within themselves and outwardly toward the entire LGBT community. This list could fill a directory, but as I enter into this discussion the following names stand out:

• Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association
• Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council
• Rick Santorum a one man hate source
• Ted Haggard New Life Church (links to 42 second video of Haggard preaching hate)
• former Navy Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt
• Paul Cameron of the Family Research Institute who was quoted saying the following:

 “Marital sex tends toward the boring end. Generally, it doesn’t deliver the kind of sheer sexual pleasure that homosexual sex does. If you isolate sexuality as something solely for one’s own personal amusement, if all you want is the most satisfying orgasm you can get, then homosexuality seems too powerful to resist.” — Interview with Rolling Stone, 1999

You see why I submit the repression theory for discussion. I mean this guy makes unbelievable statements including this latest disgusting litany of filth directed at the gay community on the VCY Crosstalk Radio program which calls itself “Christian Information Radio”, by the way.

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Only someone filled with an overwhelming self-hatred could muster that level of vile. They seem to be obsessed 24/7 – 365 days of the year with the topic of homosexuality. Since this topic is not going away on the heels of President Obama’s interview endorsing same-sex marriage, we need to take the time to understand what we can about these extremists. We are talking fear at its highest level of anxiety for these men.

First, let’s examine the very real dilemma that presents when people struggle with a deep-seeded self-loathing after desperate attempts to deny their own sexual identities fail. These anxieties can manifest in various ways, and for many it is contained and private. In the worst scenarios it seems that there are two divergent roads one can take that either result in suicide when the person can no longer deal with the internal conflict – or the uncontrollable obsession to lash out and do it with venom. It is common for these individuals to drown themselves in religious doctrine to justify their intolerance invoking God as their authority. This is a form of Internalized Homophobia by people who force themselves to self-identity as heterosexual.

Internalized Homophobia

The phrase internalized sexual stigma is sometimes used in place to represent internalized homophobia. An internalized stigma is when a person believes negative stereotypes about themselves, regardless where the stereotype comes from. Internalized homophobia can cause discomfort with and disapproval of one’s own sexual orientation.

Some studies have shown that people who are homophobic have repressed their own homosexual desires. In 1996, a controlled study of 64 heterosexual men (half said they were homophobic by experience, with self-reported orientation) at the University of Georgia found that men who were found to be homophobic (as measured by the Index of Homophobia) were considerably more likely to experience more erectile responses when exposed to homoerotic images than non-homophobic men.

Another study in 2012 came to similar findings when researchers found that students who came from “the most rigid anti-gay homes” were most likely to to reveal repressed homosexual attraction. The researchers noted that this explained why some religious leaders who denounce homosexuality are later revealed to be having secret homosexual relations, like Reverend Ted Haggard, The researchers noted that “these people are at war with themselves and are turning this internal conflict outward.”

 

Ego-Dystonic Homophobia

Ego-dystonic sexual orientation or egodystonic homophobia, for instance, is a condition characterized by having a sexual orientation or an attraction that is at odds with one’s idealized self-image, causing anxiety and a desire to change one’s orientation or become more comfortable with one’s sexual orientation. Such a situation may cause extreme repression of homosexual desires. In other cases, a conscious internal struggle may occur for some time, often pitting deeply held religious or social beliefs against strong sexual and emotional desires.

Social homophobia

The fear of being identified as gay can be considered as a form of social homophobia. Theorists including Calvin Thomas and Judith Butler have suggested that homophobia can be rooted in an individual’s fear of being identified as gay. Homophobia in men is correlated with insecurity about masculinity.For this reason, allegedly homophobia is rampant in sports, and in the subculture of its supporters, that are considered stereotypically “male”, such as association football and rugby.

These theorists have argued that a person who expresses homophobic thoughts and feelings does so not only to communicate their beliefs about the class of gay people, but also to distance themselves from this class and its social status. Thus, by distancing themselves from gay people, they are reaffirming their role as a heterosexual in a heteronormative culture, thereby attempting to prevent themselves from being labeled and treated as a gay person. This interpretation alludes to the idea that a person may posit violent opposition to “the Other” as a means of establishing their own identity as part of the majority and thus gaining social validation. Nancy J. Chodorow states that homophobia can be viewed as a method of protection of male masculinity.

Various psychoanalytic theories explain homophobia as a threat to an individual’s own same-sex impulses, whether those impulses are imminent or merely hypothetical. This threat causes repression, denial or reaction formation. ~ Wikipedia

As I pointed out, the internal struggles can manifest in outward aggression toward the object that represents what the person most hates about oneself. It is – to be sure – a horrible existence for these individuals. But when this dynamic is coupled with the “deeply held religious or social beliefs” fighting against their own “strong sexual and emotional desires” then we see a dark and ugly outcome that emerges as an obsessive campaign of hate.

Homosexuality Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Yes, HOCD is a real diagnosis under Anxiety Disorders. Below is an article written that attempts to help people understand their thoughts, feelings and urges.

Homosexuality Anxiety

Obsessive-compulsive disorder involves intrusive thoughts that are unwanted and distressing to the individual. Sometimes these thoughts take the form of persistent notions about having a different sexual orientation. For example, a person who has had many years of satisfied, opposite sex relationships might suddenly start to worry that he or she is actually homosexual. Some people who have this manifestation of OCD have taken to calling this “HOCD” or “Homosexual OCD.” HOCD is not a scientific term, but has evolved out of the OCD community as a way to describe the distress caused by anxieties over unwanted thoughts about being gay.

Clinicians, educators, and people with HOCD can use the table below to better understand differences between the experience of someone with HOCD and the experience of someone with a homosexual sexual identity. Note that this is not a clinical screening instrument as it has not been validated for use in this manner, and not all items will apply to every person. Furthermore, the second column applies to a relatively well-adjusted gay person. A homosexual person with severe internalized homophobia may not be well represented in either category.

Homosexuality Anxiety OCD	Homosexual Orientation
You feel more sexually aroused by people of the opposite sex.	You feel more sexually aroused by people of the same sex.
Your thoughts about engaging in same-sex relationships are unappealing to you.	Your thoughts about engaging in same-sex relationships are arousing to you.
You feel anxious about romantic relationships with people of the same sex.	You look forward to romantic relationships with people of the same sex.
You have most enjoyed sexual experiences with a person of the opposite sex.	You have most enjoyed sexual experiences with a person of the same sex.
You worry about your same-sex thoughts mainly because you don’t want to give up being with people of the opposite sex.	You worry about your same-sex thoughts mainly because of what others might think or because of religious concerns.
You are not able to stop thinking about same-sex relationships, and the thoughts are a severe distraction.	Even though you often think about same-sex relationships, you are able to stop thinking about it when you need to.
You feel emotional intimacy with a partner of the opposite sex.	You feel emotional intimacy with a partner of the same sex.
You are worried that people of the same sex might find you attractive.	You like when people of the same sex find you attractive.
You fantasize about being in physical relationships with people of the opposite sex (including dreams).	You fantasize about being in physical relationships with people of the same sex (including dreams).
You try to learn more about sexual identity issues to reassure yourself that you are not gay.	You try to learn more about sexual identity issues to better understand yourself and others like you.

I have to conclude with this video clip from Jon Stewart who had Jerry Seinfeld help him in a skit about Michelle Bachmann’s husband – Marcus – who makes his living through a clinic that he established to “pray away the gay” so that homosexuals will renounce their sexuality and choose to be straight. A practice that has been categorically repudiated by the professional psychological community as a total sham. Nonetheless, even Mitt Romney has financially supported this absurdity to pray away the gay. 

If Marcus doesn’t embody the walking, talking example of repression, I honestly don’t know who does – and my gaydar is very honed. I end this with Stewart’s humor, but this is really addressing the root of so much hate against the LGBT community. Imagine – if they could just find  a way to resolve their inner loathing we could all move on to really major political problems and this would be a non-issue in a country where discrimination no longer existed against “The Others”. They are more obsessed with homosexual sex than homosexuals are.

These are faux Christians – Dominionists – who are bible-based cult followers of a scripture-twisted version of Christianity that somehow justifies hate, intolerance, discrimination, sitting in judgment, and persecuting those who are not like them. I am a Christian Agnostic in large part because of Dominionist Christians and their horrific theology chasing me further and further from my faith. These people are obsessed with forcing their views and rules on everyone else. This includes insinuating their homophobic hate into our military through legislation to allow bullying which I wrote about today at God’s Own Party?

About the Author ~ Leah L. Burton

Leah L Burton

Activist, Researcher, Writer against extremism of any kind. An advocate of Separation of Church & State and everyone’s right to have freedom of faith or non-faith.