Our society does not desire to see gay men in stable, responsible, mutually gratifying relationships. Such relationships are still too threatening to the sense of masculinity of men in most segments of Western culture. When the time comes that such relationships are fostered between gay men, when homosexual men and women alike will no longer have to expend so much energy and time in hiding and disguising themselves and finding secret ways to express their love and sexuality, there will be release of creative energy that will benefit all society.Richard A. Isay,
Being Homosexual: Gay Men and Their Development (NY: Avon/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1989), p. 133.
The roots of homophobia . . . lie in the hatred of what is perceived and labeled as feminine in men. In societies where women are subjugated, feared, or discriminated against because men feel contaminated or polluted by them, "feminine" characteristics in males will be despised.
Our society does not desire to see gay men in stable, responsible, mutually gratifying relationships. Such relationships are still too threatening to the sense of masculinity of men in most segments of Western culture. When the time comes that such relationships are fostered between gay men, when homosexual men and women alike will no longer have to expend so much energy and time in hiding and disguising themselves and finding secret ways to express their love and sexuality, there will be release of creative energy that will benefit all society.