Internalized Homophobia

        If I were to write a contemporary manifesto related to LGBTQ issues it would be about internalized homophobia. I believe the subject of internalized homophobia is still rather new in the queer community even though it has been around since the beginning of queer history. It is a topic that is swept under the rug because as a progressive minority we don’t want to compare ourselves to people who are internalized racists. It is not only a difficult issue to think about, but most of us are unable to talk about it. What does it mean when we look at someone in our own culture and point out stereotypes about them that we do not want to be associated with? Because the outside world is plagued with labels about the queer community, how do we avoid labeling one another? It wasn’t until a year ago that the idea of internalized homophobia was introduced to me by my friend Jason. When he told me what is what and what it meant I immediately thought that it did not apply to me. As a person who continuously fights with society to break down what it means to be queer, how could I put my own culture in such a small box? As I began to think about myself and what the word lesbian was associated with, I began to unearth these feelings and resentments that had been building for years. I began to look at other lesbians, even my own partner, and see characteristics, that are commonly associated with lesbians, that I don’t want people to see in me. I believe that internalized homophobia is a major issue that the queer culture is avoiding and needs to be addressed in order to prevent negative labeling from within the queer community.

      I think it would be hard to connect and compare modern writing on internalized homophobia with that of early gay and lesbian thinkers because they spent more time trying to become accepted by the outside world, while the issues affecting the inner-workings of the queer community were left to brew. I can only imagine what some of the famous LGBTQ activists would think if they were brought to this time and presented with the problem of internalized homophobia.