# Study On Homophobia Confirms "Doth Protest Too Much" Suspicions **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 10, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379 "2012-04-10T16:56:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379/1 "2012-04-10T16:56:41Z")
[Science Daily](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120406234458.htm) gives us this contender for the “Least Surprising Scientific Finding Of The Year” award: > [@](#): > > Homophobia is more pronounced in individuals with an unacknowledged attraction to the same sex and who grew up with authoritarian parents who forbade such desires, a series of psychology studies demonstrates… > > The findings may help to explain the personal dynamics behind some bullying and hate crimes directed at gays and lesbians, the authors argue. Media coverage of gay-related hate crimes suggests that attackers often perceive some level of threat from homosexuals. People in denial about their sexual orientation may lash out because gay targets threaten and bring this internal conflict to the forefront, the authors write. > > The research also sheds light on high profile cases in which anti-gay public figures are caught engaging in same-sex sexual acts. The authors cite such examples as Ted Haggard, the evangelical preacher who opposed gay marriage but was exposed in a gay sex scandal in 2006, and Glenn Murphy, Jr., former chairman of the Young Republican National Federation and vocal opponent of gay marriage, who was accused of sexually assaulting a 22-year-old man in 2007, as potentially reflecting this dynamic… ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379/2 "2012-04-11T20:56:48Z")
There was a 1990s [study](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8772014) at the U. of GA using a penile plethysmograph (nicknamed “the peter meter”) that had similar results. [Video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij8q6OOIyXU). ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379/3 "2012-04-11T21:58:26Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > There was a 1990s [study](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8772014) at the U. of GA using a penile plethysmograph (nicknamed “the peter meter”) that had similar results. [Video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij8q6OOIyXU). A GENUINE homophobe would never subject himself to an experiment like that in the first place. His immediate reaction would have been, “What are you, gay?” ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379/4 "2012-04-11T22:25:42Z")
Ah, well that’s interesting. I have, for the last year or so, consistently argued _against_ the idea that rabid homophobes “protest too much”, based on [this here article from, well, uh… Cracked.com](http://www.cracked.com/article/85_6-bullshit-facts-about-psychology-that-everyone-believes_p2/). Might have to revise my standpoint now. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379/5 "2012-04-11T23:56:49Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > A GENUINE homophobe would never subject himself to an experiment like that in the first place. His immediate reaction would have been, “What are you, gay?” It was a double blind study. They were told the focus of the study was reactions to porn. They didn’t answer the poll on their reaction towards gays until after they had already volunteered. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379/6 "2012-04-12T06:04:01Z")
My wife can’t sleep in silence but also can’t sleep with music, so talk radio it is all night every night ☹ There is a local preacher who I want to record he is such a repressed gay man, its a surreal joke at this point. If I wake up one more time to pee to “and again I think how can a man put his penis in another man’s rectum and enjoy it” I’m going to record it and post it on the internet. Seriously the guy talked about how there were these two gay guys and speculates on what nasty sex acts they are performing behind closed doors. ---
**Author:** ![florez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9e5f3/32.png) [@florez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/florez)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379/7 "2012-04-12T06:26:54Z")
I am not surprised that it could be the least surprising scientific finding of the year. Would it not be- typical reaction formation, where homophobia masks the opposite impulse? I think it’s from Psych101, in the Defense Mechanism chapter. ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379/8 "2012-04-12T06:31:14Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > A GENUINE homophobe would never subject himself to an experiment like that in the first place. His immediate reaction would have been, “What are you, gay?” What makes you so sure that the scientist involved were male? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379/9 "2012-04-12T06:32:05Z")
So… who wants to tell Phred? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379/10 "2012-04-12T06:51:49Z")
So apparently people who dislike blacks are also secretly of Black African decent themselves, Protestants foaming at the mouth in Ireland against Catholics were actually closet Papists and Islamophobes actually pray towards Mecca five time a day? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379/11 "2012-04-12T07:09:55Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > So apparently people who dislike blacks are also secretly of Black African decent themselves, Protestants foaming at the mouth in Ireland against Catholics were actually closet Papists and Islamophobes actually pray towards Mecca five time a day? Yes, because all phenomena are exactly alike. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379/12 "2012-04-12T09:54:42Z")
> [@grude](#): > > My wife can’t sleep in silence but also can’t sleep with music, so talk radio it is all night every night ☹ May I suggest audiobooks? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379/13 "2012-04-12T13:35:38Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > So apparently people who dislike blacks are also secretly of Black African decent themselves, Protestants foaming at the mouth in Ireland against Catholics were actually closet Papists and Islamophobes actually pray towards Mecca five time a day? Hey, if you want to confirm or deny any of these theories the way “homophobia is associated with closet homosexuality” is now confirmed, get your own research grant. > [@Nava](#): > > > [@grude](#): > > > > My wife can’t sleep in silence but also can’t sleep with music, so talk radio it is all night every night ☹ > > May I suggest audiobooks? May I suggest a white noise generator? The output will probably be more intelligent-sounding. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379/14 "2012-04-12T13:42:42Z")
> [@grude](#): > > My wife can’t sleep in silence but also can’t sleep with music, so talk radio it is all night every night ☹ What about those “ambient noise” CDs? Not necessarily the sound of waves or water (makes one go to the toilet), but forest sounds or street noise. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379/15 "2012-04-12T14:00:21Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > So apparently people who dislike blacks are also secretly of Black African decent themselves, Protestants foaming at the mouth in Ireland against Catholics were actually closet Papists and Islamophobes actually pray towards Mecca five time a day? Yes. And this is a very intelligent and thought-provoking post you’ve made. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379/16 "2012-04-12T14:35:00Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > So apparently people who dislike blacks are also secretly of Black African decent themselves, John D MacDonald mentioned this in one of his Travis McGee novels as illustration of self-loathing how, if you look unbiased at historical photos of Klan members and other whites screaming during the 60s (Little Rock etc.) it was obvious how many were “mixed race” themselves, but apparently nobody noticed during that time. > [@](#): > > Protestants foaming at the mouth in Ireland against Catholics were actually closet Papists Except for that small detail that the N. Ireland conflict is not about religion, but tribal territory, and religion is chosen as being part of the right group, not the other way around. That’s why pastors of both confessions have spoken out against killing other people and been ignored. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379/17 "2012-04-12T14:51:28Z")
Upon reading the article it seems it was very heavy on the subliminal messages. For example they got the words “me” or “others” flashed at them, after which they had to sort pictures and words for gay/straight, and then it was concluded: > [@](#): > > A faster association of “me” with “gay” and a slower association of “me” with “straight” indicated an implicit gay orientation. I really don’t know much about subliminal messages, but I thought they were kinda not-all-that-proved? It sounds a little far-fetched in this study. I really want it to be proof of “though doth protest too much” though, can anyone tell me how reliable such subliminal message-stuff is? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379/18 "2012-04-12T15:03:43Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Yes. And this is a very intelligent and thought-provoking post you’ve made. A recent study published in the journal _DUH_ concluded that most people who post silly leading questions on message boards already know the answers to them, and may actually be pushing some sort of agenda. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379/19 "2012-04-12T15:05:22Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > So apparently people who dislike blacks are also secretly of Black African decent themselves, Protestants foaming at the mouth in Ireland against Catholics were actually closet Papists and Islamophobes actually pray towards Mecca five time a day? How thought provoking. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379/20 "2012-04-12T15:21:46Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > How thought provoking. It did, in truth, provoke certain thoughts. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-on-homophobia-confirms-doth-protest-too-much-suspicions/618379.md?page=2)