Internalised homophobia

Have you ever hated yourself because of your sexuality or gender?

If so, this is actually quite common and it's called internalised homophobia. It is when we fear or resent our own natural gender expression or sexual orientation.

When straight people grow up around homophobia, it may make them homophobic. Equally, when we grow up around homophobia it can quite easily makes us hate ourselves, especially when we first begin to discover our emerging sexuality or gender identity.

It has been shown that internalised homophobia, and not simply being attracted to the same sex, leads to a whole bunch of negative stuff like depression and self-loathing. This runs counter to claims from some anti-gay lobby groups who assert that gay people are somehow inherently miserable because of some negative lifestyle that all gay people are supposed to share.

Love yourself for who you are, and you’ll be better off for it.

Ref:Slap Upside the Head

Top of page