Open Forum: The Homophobic Side Effect - Queer Paranoia

Homophobia is heavily prevalent in society, in small towns and big cities alike, it is hard to escape the intolerance, and prejudice that surrounds the often taboo topic of queer sexuality. Whether one is closeted, struggling to come out, or out and proud, homophobia does take a toll on all of our lives.

Ever fear sharing your sex life with your physician for fear of judgment even when it could amount to risking your own health? Do you hesitate to put photos of your families on your desk at work fearing someone will come across them and know your secret? How about standing on a line to buy a gay book or magazine, ever keep an eye over your shoulder afraid to bump into the wrong person? These and countless more examples are real and vivid fears in the daily lives of many queers.

These feelings can be described as 'butterflies in the stomach' or anxiety that comes as a result of societal homophobia. Do you suffer from anxiety based on your queer identity? Do you take heat and suffer from misunderstanding for being an ally? How do you deal with the homophobic side effect that is queer paranoia?

Open Forum: "I Hate Being Gay" Program on Tyra Banks Show

The Tyra Banks Show has hosted a program called "I Hate Being Gay" and the program is split over 5 clips that can be seen below, please double click the videos to see it in full screen.

The program has received a mixed reaction from the gay community, some feeling that the show is a trophy for the right wing which seeks to demonstrate how psychologically damaging the "gay lifestyle" is, and to reintroduce terms like "sexual orientation disturbance". Others feel that the program highlights serious issues many gay people face at some point in their lives and that it is a healthy discussion to have.



The program begins by featuring one young man who finds being gay disgusting, he hopes to become "straight" by the age of 30 in hopes of having a family. He feels he can be emotionally attracted to women, but not as sexual as he would like to be.

The next clip shows a guy who feels very intimidated by gay men. Tyra sends him out to meet with some gay men and helps increase his confidence and he reported feeling better about his identity.

Following that a man is introduced who identifies as gay but has fallen in love with a woman and decided to marry her. The couple occasionally brings an additional man into the bedroom, and they are unsure as to whether their relationship will prevail.

Finally, the last man is conflicted about being gay because he also desires a family. On the request of his father, he attends an "ex-gay" seminar only to find out that it takes years and thousands of dollars and would only help to possibly supress his desires as opposed to change his orientation. He seems conflicted as to which path in life he will ultimately take.

Tyra Banks has traditionally been very gay supportive, and always says "the gays love Tyra and Tyra loves the gays." But, recently she had a program on "ex-gays" and now this program also toys with the idea of "orientation conversion." Tyra Banks continually throughout the show makes positive statements about how orientation cannot be changed and that these men should accept themselves.

Some in the gay community are outraged that Tyra is showing a few "dysfunctional" people and that this reflects poorly on many in the community who never questioned their identity. Should we shun the voices of those who are struggling and pretend everything is just fine, or is it ok to discuss openly how some people are struggling and how some experience sexual fluidity in the hopes of making the public more aware how ingrained in our lives sexuality is and how complicated human sexuality really is, regardless of orientation?