Antigay Is The New Gay

More

Dan Savage picks up on this Charles Blow column from a couple days back:

Virulent homophobes are increasingly being exposed for engaging in homosexuality...there is a growing body of research that supports the notion that homophobia in some men could be a reaction to their own homosexual impulses. Many heterosexual men see this, and they don’t want to be associated with it. It’s like being antigay is becoming the old gay. Not cool.

Dan adds:

So straight men are telling pollsters that they're okay with gay relationships because they don't want people thinking they're gay or anything. That kind of homophobia I can live with.

Actually, I suspect we're beginning to see reality come to the fore. Sometimes I wonder whether the fight over gay rights isn't partly a war between gay people. Of course, plenty of folks with fundamentalism in their bones oppose gay dignity and equality. But the virulence and passion often come from those who may have some personal stake in this. I'm thinking particularly of repressed gay men seeking to reinforce the ideologies or doctrines that can make their repressed misery more bearable. If you've lived your life on the assumption that homosexuality is shameful, if you've even constructed an entire career on this (such as cover in a celibate priesthood), and if you've lived a double life as a result - emotionally starved, sexually compulsive or shut down - your resentment of the next generation letting go and leading happy, contented "virtually normal" lives must be personally either threatening or enraging.

Most non-fundie straight men I know, once they get over the ick factor, are either indifferent to or supportive of gay men's rights. The Prada shoes brigade, however ...

Jump to comments

2006-2011 archives for The Daily Dish, featuring Andrew Sullivan

Get Today's Top Stories in Your Inbox (preview)


Elsewhere on the web

Join the Discussion

After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register. blog comments powered by Disqus

Video

Miami: The Next Big Start-Up City?

How the city became a center for innovation

Video

Video

A Brief History of Romantic Comedies

From The Atlantic's Chris Orr

Video

Life in 'the New Arctic'

A moving portrait of a fading landscape

Video

Video

The Rise of New York City

A fascinating look at Manhattan in the 1940s

Video

What Is Methane Hydrate?

"Flaming ice" is a vast natural energy source

Video

NASA's Time-Lapse of the Sun

Now with epic dubstep music

Video

Shaken Not Tuned: Cocktail Experiments

Can a tuning fork improve a cocktail?

Video

Video

Is He Cheating? A 1950s Guide

'That little blonde secretary from the office?’

Video

New Yorkers: Vintage Vacuum-Tube Amps

Risking electric shock to restore old amplifiers

Video

The DIY Piano-Bicycle

Everybody needs a hobby

Writers

Up
Down

In Focus

Photos of Tornado Damage in Moore, Oklahoma