Maybe, at least for some of them; but I suspect that fear and anxiety are even more fundamental. Which makes sense if homophobia really is a phobia. And aggression and hostility is sometimes a way that fear and anxiety manifest.
Its not, though. There’s no actual clinical diagnosis for “fear of homosexuals,” the way there is for heights or spiders.
That’s certainly true in some percentage of cases, but it does not contradict what I said about traditional conservative arguments, the ones without the religious element, since that spoke only to the arguments themselves, not what is behind them. And then there’s the part of my post you decided not to quote, for whatever reason:
Except there’s no reason to actually believe that, and plenty of reason not to. The only evidence in favor is "but it can’t be true, it just can’t", while it’s always been safe to place your bets on conservatives picking the option that hurts others. This is something that people have known for ages, and relied on.
“If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.” - Lyndon B. Johnson
This is what it’s all about - appealing to the hatred and cruelty that is the essence of conservatism. Using bigots who care more about hurting “those” people than about their own lives and welfare to gain wealth and power, and repaying them by indulging their hate.
Pretending that conservatives are “well meaning but misguided” is both inaccurate and very dangerous. It’s part of how they’ve gotten so powerful, they’ve been allowed to run wild for decades because so many people outright refused to believe in their bad intentions even when they literally shouted those intentions out loud. And on a more individual level it directly endangers people, like teens who come out to their conservative parents under the assumption those parents would consider parenthood more important than hate, then end up disowned and on the street because nothing is more important to conservatives than their hate.
I can’t dispute there are a lot of racists out there, like at Charlottesville chanting “The Jews will not replace us.”
I can’t dispute there are a lot of casual misogynists out there casting their hate as pointed at malicious, anti-male feminists. I’ve seen the evidence.
I certainly can’t dispute anti-gay and now anti-trans distortions and hateful misrepresentation.
As an atheist, I’ve dealt with a little disrespect toward me and my beliefs by people asserting ideas based on falsehoods. Nothing that rises to the level of dangerous, just a blanket judgement without accurate objective evaluation.
But what I see most often isn’t a self- aware motive to hurt somebody. It’s a reflection of a distorted perception that they have been wronged. It’s an identity- based politics where they feel under attack by society and are striking back. It’s a lot easier to root for harm to your opponents when you think they are contributing to harm to you and your ideology.
I think there’s also a bit of selection bias at work. Not all conservative parents kick their kids out over sexual identity or preference, but the outcome is so severe and it is frequent enough that the claim gains traction.
I’m certainly capable of misperception, too.
And the Nazis felt that way about the Jews. Blaming the victim isn’t a justification for persecution, nor does it make the persecutors nice people.
Getting laid. For young guys who struggle with dating women, it’s often much, much easier to find a similar guy to have sex with. In certain subcultures, any guy who is remotely heteroflexible is going to try it.
I dunno if this is relevant to what the average religious conservative believes, though.
I hate this idea, and I don’t believe it’s true, and to whatever extent it ever actually happens, those guys are not choosing to be gay, they are choosing to have sex with another guy. There is a huge difference.
Yes; however the Right thinks “choosing to have sex with another guy” IS choosing to be gay, as that’s how they define “being gay” in the first place. They’re wrong, but that’s never stopped them from believing something.
Outside of prison rape, which is not sex either, I just can’t imagine a straight man doing this, not if a willing woman is available.
MHO, of course.
It’s not something I have any familiarity with, but the conditions explicitly stated “who struggle with dating women”.
And that is something I do have familiarity with. Low self-esteem and anxiety can manifest in different ways, but not being able to identify willing women and not feeling able to interest women are real obstacles for some males, especially teenagers who are just discovering the idea of dating and getting overwhelmed by hormones.
Horny teenage boys can lament their loneliness and frustration about talking to girls with other boys. It’s an avenue to discuss sex, and thereby perhaps to exploration.
Not something that I ever considered, but we accept that some girls practice with other girls, and that’s gone on forever, not just since lesbianism and bi-curiosity became a pop culture thing and a fetish for straight males to acknowledge openly.
Convert male cooperative masturbation leading to swapping blowjobs doesn’t sound ridiculous. Going full anal is less likely, IMO, but “sex” doesn’t have to include anal.