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Discrimination against gay men, sometimes calledgayphobia, is a form ofhomophobic prejudice, hatred, or bias specifically directed towardgay men, malehomosexuality, or men who areperceived to be gay.[1][2][3][4] This discrimination is closely related tofemmephobia, which is the dislike of, or hostility toward, individuals who present as feminine, including gay andeffeminate men.[5]
Discrimination against gay men can result from religion, prejudicial reactions to one's femininemannerisms, styles ofclothing, and evenvocal register.[6][7][8] Within theLGBTQ-community,internalized issues around meeting social expectations ofmasculinity have been found among gay, bisexual, and transgender men.[9] It is analogous tolesbophobia.
According to theFrench government, discrimination against gay men "is a form of homophobia that specifically affects men. Although it is primarily aimed at gay and bisexual men, it can also affectheterosexual men who are perceived as homosexual. Gay men may be targets of physical aggression or devalued by stereotypes linked tofeminisation andhypersexualisation."[3]
The journalist Pierre Bouvier described anti-gay male sentiment as parallel tolesbophobia. Noting how these two different forms of homophobia operate inWestern cultures, he wrote,[10]
There is very clearly a difference in mechanisms between gayphobia and lesbophobia, and this translates into different types of aggression. Where thecollective imagination over-sexualizes gay men and exerts strong verbal and physical violence against boys and men who are not considered sufficiently masculine or heterosexual; for women, on the other hand, the assertion of their lesbian identity will be further disqualified, minimized, reduced to a fad, or even sexualized as a prelude to heterosexuality.
In 2002, there were at least 30 countries where female homosexuality was not explicitly criminalized, but male homosexuality was illegal.[11] Compared to lesbians, gay men are more often victims of hate crimes[12] and have more difficulty adopting children.[13]
In French academia, queer theorists have examined the unique ways in whichpatriarchy attempts to enforce bothmasculinity andheterosexuality on those withmale bodies. The French queer and race theoristLouis-Georges Tin examined discrimination against gay men, and the historical development of the various forms of LGBT-related phobias under the umbrella ofhomophobia. He writes:
There has been an inverse movement of lexical differentiation operating at the heart of the concept ofhomophobia. Because of the specificity of attitudes towardslesbianism, the termlesbophobia has been introduced into theoretic discourses, a term which brings to light particular mechanisms that the generic concept of homophobia tends to overshadow. With one stroke, this distinction justifies the termgayphobia, since much homophobic discourse, in reality, pertains only tomale homosexuality. Similarly, the concept ofbiphobia has also been proposed in order to highlight the singular situation ofbisexuals, often stigmatized by both heterosexual and homosexual communities. Moreover, we need to take into consideration the very different issues linked to transsexual, transvestite, andtransgender persons, which brings to mind the notion oftransphobia.[14]
In her 2017 text,The Women's Liberation Movement: Impacts and Outcomes, the German gender historianKristina Schulz [de] noted that within the Western media landscape during the 1970s'Gay Rights Movement, prejudice against gay men attracted more media attention than lesbophobia, largely due to the rhetoric of reactionary conservatives such asAnita Bryant, who suggested that gay men were sexual predators.[15]
Inpeer-reviewed studies which break down and distinguish homophobia separately between discrimination against gay men and lesbians, researchers have foundstatistically significant differences between heterosexual men and women in regards to their attitudes toward gay men.[16] While no statistically significant differences were found in men and women in regard to lesbians, heterosexual men do demonstrate statistically significant elevated levels of animosity toward men they perceive as gay.[16]
Scholars have noted mosthomophobic slurs are specifically directed against gay men.Paul Baker ofLancaster University writes, "Many gay men have been subjected to bouts of name-calling, possibly from a time before they even realized what homosexuality was. The over-lexicalisation of pejorative terms for 'gay man' which exist (for example:faggot,pansy,puff,shirt-lifter,brown-hatter,fairy,batty-boy,queer, etc.) is further testament to their status as 'target.'"[17]
Daniel Green (Vienna University of Economics and Business) has analyzed the Austrian Supreme Court’s (OGH) application of the concept of "same-sex fornication" in appeal cases between 1978 and 2014, uncovering systemic discrimination that primarily disadvantages gay men. His corpus-assisted study reveals how the OGH’s language conflates consensual same-sex relations with serious offenses like sexual coercion, perpetuating hetero-androcentric biases and marginalizing sexual minorities under the guise of "protection" and "prevention." These practices reflect institutionalized homophobia, with rulings reinforcing societal inequalities.[18]
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Media related toGayphobia at Wikimedia Commons
The dictionary definition ofgayphobia at Wiktionary
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