Mental Health for Gay and Bisexual Men | CDC

Contents:

• HOW TO TELL IF YOUR GUY FRIEND IS GAY
• IS MY HBAND GAY? SIGNS OF A GAY HBAND
• “HOW TO TELL IF A MAN IS GAY” — 5 WAYS (BACKED BY SCIENCE)
• CLOSETED GAY MEN – WHY ARE THEY STILL THERE?
• 29 CELEBRI WHO SOME BELIEVE ARE GAY
• IS CHRIS KATTAN GAY? RUMORS ON BEG CLOSETED GAY, ANSWERED!
• A PORTRA OF ED KOCH’S SECRET GAY LIFE

HOW TO TELL IF YOUR GUY FRIEND IS GAY

As gay people mt ci on a daily basis whether to reveal and to whom they will reveal, g out is a procs that never the jargon of ntemporary homosexual culture, those who hi their sexual inti are referred to as eher closeted or said to be the closet. Homosexual IntiIn the velopmental histori of gay men and women, perds of difficulty acknowledgg their homosexualy, eher to themselv or to others, are often reported.

IS MY HBAND GAY? SIGNS OF A GAY HBAND

On the ntrary, begng childhood--and distguishg them om racial and ethnic mori--gay people are often subjected to the antihomosexual attus of their own fai and muni (Drcher et al., 2004). Antihomosexual attus clu homophobia (Weberg, 1972), heterosexism (Herek, 1984), moral nmnatns of homosexualy (Drcher, 1998) and antigay vlence (Herek and Berrill, 1992). Hidg activi learned childhood often persist to young adulthood, middle age and even sencence, leadg many gay people to nceal important aspects of themselv.

“HOW TO TELL IF A MAN IS GAY” — 5 WAYS (BACKED BY SCIENCE)

Consequently, the feelgs mt be dissociated om the self and hidn om and when same-sex feelgs and attractns n no longer be kept out of nscns, the dividual be homosexually self-aware. While homosexually self-aware people might nsir acceptg and tegratg the feelgs to their public persona, acceptance is not a pre-termed oute. For example, a relig, homosexually self-aware man may choose a celibate life to avoid what, for him, would be the problematic tegratn of his relig and sexual inti.

CLOSETED GAY MEN – WHY ARE THEY STILL THERE?

Individuals who are eher nscly prepared to act on their homoerotic feelgs or to reveal a homosexual inty to others ually fe themselv as gay or lbian. While regnizg their homosexual feelgs, the dividuals reject the feelgs and, spe the low odds of succs, may even seek to change their sexual orientatn (Shidlo et al., 2001) above classifitn of homosexual inti privileg the role of self-fn. Consequently, when dividuals bee homosexually self-aware, there is a wi range of psychosocially nstcted attus and rpons they may velop toward their own homosexualy.

For example, a homosexually self-aware man may ially intify himself as gay but then regret that cisn and return to his earlier practic of hidg.

Clil prentatns of closeted gay people may lie somewhere severy between selective attentn--most monly seen the se of homosexually self-aware patients thkg about "the possibily" that they might be gay--to more severe dissociatn-- which any ht of same-sex feelgs ris totally out of nsc awarens. More severe forms of dissociatn are monly observed married men who are homosexually self-aware but nnot perm the thought of themselv as gay (Roughton, 2002) and the ClosetSome closeted gay people n reflexively speak whout revealg the genr of the person beg discsed or whout providg any genred tails of their personal liv. " Toward that end, a gay person might avoid referenc to genr altogether: "I went out last night wh someone I've been datg for the last few weeks.

29 CELEBRI WHO SOME BELIEVE ARE GAY

Transparency, visibily, losg one's voice, and beg stuck behd walls or other barriers are some of the terms ed to scribe the subjective experience of dissociative tachment (Drcher, 1998) Closet and Gay-BashgFor some gay men, "Hidg and passg as heterosexual be a lifelong moral hatred of the self; a maze of rptns, petty li, and half tths that spoil social relatns fay and iendship" (Herdt and Boxer, 1993).

One penile plethysmography study dited that men wh strong antihomosexual beliefs actually had signifint homosexual aroal patterns (Adams et al., 1996). In other words, is an effort to strengthen dissociative OutComg out may be the most monly shared cultural experience that f the morn gay inty.

Herdt and Boxer (1993) classified g out as a rual procs of passage that requir a gay person to 1) unlearn the prcipl of natural or sentialist heterosexualy; 2) unlearn the stereotyp of homosexualy; and 3) learn the ways of the lbian and gay culture they are enterg.

IS CHRIS KATTAN GAY? RUMORS ON BEG CLOSETED GAY, ANSWERED!

Fally, as gay people mt ci on a daily basis whether to reveal and to whom they will reveal themselv, g out is a procs that never out to onelf is a subjective experience of ner regnn.

Such revelatns are not always greeted wh enthiasm, and fear of rejectn often plays a signifint role a gay person's cisn about who to tell or whether to e out. After makg such a move, gay people may pletely (and perhaps dissociatively) sever relatnships wh their past Therapist's RoleA therapist's regnn and rpect for dividual differenc allows multiple possibili the g out procs.

Every g out suatn may be associated wh anxiety, relief or prevly stated, beg gay, ntrast to beg homosexually self-aware, is to claim a normative inty. It is a prerequise of this work that therapists be able to accept their patients' homosexualy as a normal variatn of human sexualy, and that they value and rpect same-sex feelgs and behavrs as well (Drcher, 1998). Therapists should regnize gay patients' stggl to fe themselv as the important theraptic foc--and that this is not a typil stggle for those who claim a heterosexual inty.

A PORTRA OF ED KOCH’S SECRET GAY LIFE

Theraptic holdg entails beg able to nta both sis (Wnitt, 1986) gay patients unrstand their own antihomosexual attus--and the fens agast them--they have a wir view of themselv. Conversely, the same is te if a patient cis not to e the social stigma, the severy of antihomosexual attus the culture and the difficulti associated wh revealg one's sexual inty, why would a gay person e out at all?