Despite all the advances in civil rights, marriage equality, and anti-discrimination law, homophobia is still with us, it is still rife, and it still damages.
Though progress has been made, there is still widespread prejudice and discrimination against those who are gay or LGBT.
Given the power that homophobia has to disrupt lives, foster fear, and incite hatred, perhaps we need to know a little more about it.
Origins of the Word
Homophobia has been around from early times, but only recently has it been given a name, and only in 1994 did it begin to appear in dictionaries.
Prior to the 1960s, it was homophobia, and not homosexuality, that was the real sin that ‘dare not speak its name’.
In 1967, a self-identified heterosexual psychologist named George Weinberg was talking to some other therapists. They were discussing the work of a female friend when he inadvertently mentioned that she was lesbian. Immediately, the therapists' attitude changed and they began to discuss her in negative terms.
"It came to me with utter clarity that this was a phobia," said Weinberg. For him the roots of homophobia were clear. "It is fear, fear, and more fear." Later he would explain: "It is based on the preposterous notion that if you are like everybody else you will be safe, secure, and happy..."
In 1969, the word homophobia appeared in print. The US tabloid magazine Screw included it in an article that tellingly referred to straight men's fear that other people might think them gay.
A couple of years later, in 1971, the word homophobia was used by psychotherapist Kenneth Smith in an article titled: "Homophobia: A Tentative Personality Profile" The word -- and the concept -- had arrived.
Today, the word ‘homophobia’ denotes a dislike or hatred for gay people, and the view that they are somehow inferior to heterosexuals.
Homophobia and Masculinity
The great psychologist Alfred Adler, a contemporary of Sigmund Freud, believed that society devalues girls, seeing them in some way as inferior to boys, and that this gives rise to a sense of rejection of their femininity. He called this "masculine protest" and believed it involves a struggle to dominate.
In males this leads to a sense of superiority and the choice of a masculine ideal in what is termed their "guiding fiction." Because of this "masculine protest," males can see other males who appear to renounce this favored position as traitors threatening the status quo.
In this schema, gay men are seen as less than 'real men,' and this can produce contempt and strong, even volatile, emotion. If a man displays feminine traits or engages in what is considered to be feminine behavior -- or if this supposition is projected onto him because he is gay -- then this may ignite "masculine protest" and trigger visceral reactions that can quite easily be converted into violence.
This is particularly the case in families and social and religious groups that hold more traditional views of gender and family roles and in families where the man is traditionally 'the king' and in which masculinity is defined as essentially or exclusively heterosexual.
Fear
Often, the fear of being seen as 'queer' leads men to act in hyper-masculine and even aggressive ways and to close down their feelings and emotions because they believe that this would identify them in some way as feminine.
An over-identification with such an internalized masculine 'guiding fiction' can cause some men and boys to seek sexual contact with girls and women in order to prove to themselves and/or others that they are not gay. Such an attitude undoubtedly plays a role in some teenage pregnancies, bringing untold misery into the lives of people who might otherwise have chosen a different partner and a different path.
All this considered, it is perhaps unsurprising that the strong relationship between homophobia and a fictionalized masculinity may also play a role in date rape and other forms of sexual violence.
Other Causes
Homophobia may be driven by other factors, of course. Research into the nature of prejudice -- which is what homophobia really is -- suggests that homophobia is, in fact, a combination of prejudices.
In the minds of homophobes, gay people can be viewed as clannish, as belonging to a tribe or group other than the one to which they themselves belong, and therefore they can be perceived as outsiders who represent some form of threat. Being outsiders, identified by being sexually different, they can also be demonized as predatory and sexually obsessed.
Women who are attracted to -- and attract -- other women can be perceived as competing with men for women.
Panic
Homophobia can also be a kind of 'homosexual panic': something caused by the fear of gay feelings within the homophobic person him or herself. It is this particular aspect that can cause a person to engage in outward displays of homophobia.
Proclaiming a strong dislike for and condemnation of gay people can act as an apparently useful red herring or smoke screen. When employed in this way, homophobia is a cover or ruse designed to take the focus away from those who are in fact gay or who have same-sex feelings that they do not want to acknowledge or admit -- to others, or to themselves.
A series of recent studies conducted by the University of Essex in the UK and the University of Rochester, in conjunction with the University of California, Santa Barbara in the US, supports the hypothesis of homophobia as a ruse.
Using a series of highly sophisticated tests, research teams looked at the discrepancies between what people said about their sexual orientation and their implicit -- or actual -- sexual orientation. The results were astounding.
The people who scored highest on the homophobia testing were those who professed strong heterosexual orientations yet had the strongest undisclosed same-sex feelings. These people were the most likely to exhibit a deep-seated dislike of gay people.
In The Heart
But perhaps the most pernicious form of homophobia is that which is internalized by gay people themselves.
The thing to remember is that we live in a world that influences us each day. Just as homophobia is a product of that world, so too are we.
When we ourselves are ashamed or feel guilty because we are gay or LGBT, then the worm really is in the heart - and it is up to us to free ourselves from its pernicious hold. In this we do have a choice. Accepting our sexual identity and living lives that have value and meaning really is the best antidote to homophobia.
Moving forward into a life well-lived, we light the way not only for ourselves, but for so many others who walk alongside us.
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Peter Field is a UK registered psychotherapist and Director of Rainbow Champions, assertive life-skills and confident communication training for LGBT persons. His book ‘How to Be Gay and Happy’ is now available on Amazon. Peter’s hypnotherapy Birmingham and London clinics provide hypno-psychotherapy services for a wide range of issues.