from Talking with juvenile offenders about gay males and lesbians: implications for combating homophobia (p. 14):
Herek (1987) also found that 64% of the undergraduate students manifested a single function for attitudes toward homosexuality. In contrast, only 33% of all the juvenile offenders did so. A similar percentage of juvenile offenders manifested mixed negative functions. Young offenders' negative attitudes often do not correspond with just a single attitude function. Therefore, attempting to match group teaching strategies with a singular function would not be possible in many instances, and certainly not helpful in trying to overcome anti-homosexual postures. It would be more feasible and useful to target the range of functions, focusing on those which are particularly salient. Defensiveness is such a function for juvenile offenders. Unlike the broad distribution of functions which Herek (1987) revealed, among young offenders there was a preponderance of the Defensive function. Of Herek's undergraduate respondents, only 11% had exclusively Defensive attitudes, violating "a popular bit of folk-wisdom that all hostility toward gay persons results from personal conflicts about gender or repressed homosexual desires" (Herek, 1987, p. 295). In contrast, 24% of the delinquent participants' attitudes were exclusively Defensive. More strikingly, the present study found that defensiveness functioned as the sole or part basis of 84% of the juvenile offenders' negative attitudes toward homosexuals. This suggests that personal conflicts are central to the attitudes of most young offenders in this domain. In Herek's (1987) data, only 35% of the undergraduate students were wholly or in part Defensive. Such contrast between the two groups is not surprising. Adolescence is a period in our culture when there is a pronounced need for establishing personal identity, affirmed in part by excluding and stereotyping minorities (Erikson, 1968). College-age students, such as those who participated in Herek's (1987) study, would have largely resolved such adolescent role confusion.So what can we say about Tony Perkins et. al? They haven't grown up yet, or haven't dealt with repressed desires? Ted Haggard, anyone?
My favorite aspect of the anti-gay advocates is their tendency to support these "ex-gay" people, 99% of whom are later found in a backseat somewhere joyfully swallowing man gravy. Along with lots of pastors and foaming-at-the-mouth social conservative GOP politicians, of course.
And now I can see why they chose "clean" (non-porn-carrying hotels) places to stay -- they all know they'll whack the weasel all weekend to the biggest, manliest bear porn they can find if it's anywhere within reach. ...the porn, I mean...
