Is Homophobia Associated with Homosexual Arousal?

It has long been held that, deep down, homophobes are really self-hating homosexuals. Now comes evidence to support that notion. According to a study published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, homophobic men are far more likely to be arounsed while watching gay sex videos than are nonhomophobic men.

A research team led by Henry Adams, a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Georgia, recruited 64 young white male heterosexuals and showed them a video depicting heterosexual sex and another depicting homosexual sex. Their responses were measured by a gauge detecting penile erection. The result: 80% of the homophobic men showed a response to the gay video, while only one third or the nonhomophobic men did. "Men who are upset by being around gay men probably have these tendencies themselves," Adams said in the February issue of Esquire magazine. "The thing you dislike most in yourself is the kind of thing you might jump on somebody else for.

(As reported in the March 4, 1997 Advocate. Chart from the February 1997 Harper's Magazine.)