Write a brief note on the emergence of a homosexual identity and ...

[oliviahorn72]

Write a brief note on the emergence of a homosexual identity and community.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Summarize the causes of homophobia.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[SAUXC]

Answer to Question 1

In the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the effects of the Industrial Revolution had altered the livelihood of the American family from an agrarian to an industrial economic base, influencing a shift of population from rural to urban. The city offered anonymity and less scrutiny of an unmarried person. Gradually, homosexual men and lesbian women began to find one another, eventually establishing enclaves in the larger cities. These enclaves were usually in the form of the gay bar, which remains a quintessential gay institution. Historians also believe that during this time, and for essentially the same reasons, transgender persons also began to appear in larger cities due to the anonymity that larger cities provide. Also at this time laws against cross- dressing (dressing in the clothing of the opposite sex) also began to be enacted in these larger cities. Homosexuality as a social issue began to surface in 1908 with the publication of The Intersexes: A History of Similsexualism as a Problem in Social Life, by Edward Prime Stevenson. Stevenson gave accounts of a number of American cities such as St. Louis, San Francisco, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Denver, and New York where homosexual (Stevenson used the term intersexes), subcultures existed and argued for the repeal of social sanctions against homosexuality. Chicago had attracted large populations of homosexual men in the 1920s and 1930s. The first American homosexual emancipation group, the Society for Human Rights was established in Chicago in 1924 by Henry Gerber, a German-American immigrant who attempted to duplicate the success he had experienced in the German Scientific Humanitarian Committee. Gerber's organization drew from the large populations of homosexual men who gravitated to Chicago. The Great Depression years saw increased discrimination against homosexuals and other minorities and impeded the advancement of gay culture.

Answer to Question 2

Homophobia is an irrational fear of gays and lesbians; most homophobic people are homophobic because of fixed negative attitudes and prejudiced behaviors toward gays and lesbians. Interestingly, same-sex sexual behavior was admired in some past cultures and is fully accepted in some cultures today. Homophobic attitudes are learned; they are certainly not inherited. There are several roots of homophobia in our society. Some religions are fundamentally a part of the problem; the religions that instill homophobic attitudes are those that view same-sex sexual behavior as evil or a sin and that assert that people who engage in same-sex activities are likely (unless they repent) to be sent by God to eternal damnation. Some homophobic people have erroneously assumed that the high rate of AIDS/HIV infection among gay men provides evidence that same-sex sexual behavior is against God's wishes and is a way for God to punish gay people. Some studies confirm the theory that some homophobic people use hostility and violence against gays and lesbians to reassure themselves about their own sexuality. If one feels insecure about one's own sexuality (as many adolescents do), one way of reassuring oneself is by verbally or physically attacking gays and lesbians. The greatest portion of antihomosexual bias, psychologists say, arises from a combination of fear and self-righteousness. Homophobic persons frequently perceive gays and lesbians as a proxy for all that is evil, according to Gregory Herek, a psychologist who has researched homophobia. Such people see hating gay men and lesbians as a litmus test for being a moral person. Another researcher, Bob Altemeyer, found that those with the strongest feelings of hostility toward gays and lesbians often fear that the world and society are in jeopardy. They see homosexuality is a sign that society is disintegrating and as a threat to their sense of morality, said Altemeyer in an interview with the New York Times. Their self-righteousness makes them feel they are acting morally when they attack homosexuals. Once a person has an antigay bias, that bias is difficult to change. Despite the fact that gays and lesbians are not prone to child molesting, many homophobic people continue to believe that gay men are child molesters. Furthermore, according to Herek, once parents perceive a threat to their children, their emotionality makes them prone to simplistic thinking. It is such emotionality that makes anti-gay stereotypes so hard to change. Furthermore, a study in stereotyping showed that when homophobic people encounter gays and lesbians, they have a tendency to remember primarily the negative details that support their prejudice. As one becomes more convinced that gays and lesbians are evil and a threat, one is apt to take that next step by engaging in discrimination or violence against gays and lesbians.