Homophobias: A Diagnostic and Political Manual

In: Constellations: an international journal of critical and democratic theory, Band 9, Heft 2, S. 263-273

Abstract

Social scientific efforts to combat prejudice since the 1950s are reviewed, tracing different stages in the major strategies, which were primarily focused on the definition process -- whereby some groups were defined as "different" -- rather than battling prejudice, per se. Criticisms of science & its "essentialism" followed, leading to reevaluations of scientific categories such as "race" & "gender." With the deconstruction of the idea of the "melting pot" came a shift in emphasis to tolerance-promoting diversity counseling & the rise of a new "politics of identity" among minority groups. The place of homosexuality among other types of prejudice is considered, adopting the view that prejudices operate like psychological defense mechanisms, but are enacted in the social realm. The function of homophobia for different character types is explored from a psychoanalytic perspective, & combining these insights with lessons learned from the history of battles against other types of prejudice is argued to be the best way of addressing it in contemporary society. The development of the Gay Liberation movement & its battles against "scientific" claims & definitions of homosexuality as a disease, which eventually resulted in it being "depathologized" by the American Psychiatric Assoc, are recounted. K. Hyatt Stewart