According to recent studies, conducted by a team from the University of Rochester, the University of Essex, England, and the University of California in Santa Barbara found that homophobia could be a form of self-hatred and individuals who discriminate against homosexuals, could be gay themselves.
Richard Ryan, a professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, says homophobic people may have a discrepancy between what they are consciously aware of and their unconscious attraction to same sex partners. These people are more likely to come from authoritarian homes. If a parent insists their child is heterosexual when they are not and tell them they are only good if they are heterosexual, the child may grow up to hate what they are and show it by discrimination and hatred towards gays and lesbians. Read more…
…American Catholics are hardly of one mind, nor in lockstep with their bishops, when it comes to same-sex marriage; to rights for LGBT people at home, at work, and in church; or to the ongoing campaign against anti-gay bullying in schools.
Do Evangelicals shape the USA in ways that are detrimental to democracy? Are extreme evangelicals influential? What can we do to counter the affects of religious leaders determined to influence the laws of our nation to align with the faith they profess? Or should we do anything?