Remember when you said "just because I hate gays doesn't mean I am a closet case?" Well, about that...

We have all long suspected that part of the reason that people hate gays is that they harboured gay attractions with which they had not come to terms or were uncomfortable. So, seeing as all diseases have been cured, our friends at the University of Georgia asked, "Is homophobia associated with homosexual arousal?"

Well, an answer is in, as reported in O (b LOG N):

Adams HE, Wright LW Jr, Lohr BA.

Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens 30602-3013, USA.

The authors investigated the role of homosexual arousal in exclusively heterosexual men who admitted negative affect toward homosexual individuals. Participants consisted of a group of homophobic men (n = 35) and a group of nonhomophobic men (n = 29); they were assigned to groups on the basis of their scores on the Index of Homophobia (W. W. Hudson & W. A. Ricketts, 1980). The men were exposed to sexually explicit erotic stimuli consisting of heterosexual, male homosexual, and lesbian videotapes, and changes in penile circumference were monitored. They also completed an Aggression Questionnaire (A. H. Buss & M. Perry, 1992). Both groups exhibited increases in penile circumference to the heterosexual and female homosexual videos. Only the homophobic men showed an increase in penile erection to male homosexual stimuli. The groups did not differ in aggression. Homophobia is apparently associated with homosexual arousal that the homophobic individual is either unaware of or denies.

PMID: 8772014 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

I am certain that there are innumerable gay men more than willing to help some of these closet cases through the transition to a fabulous new life.

;)