Human development is a series of changes and discoveries. Our sexual identities come about from many causes all complex and all different from the usual simplistic cause leads to effect fallacy. One of very may studies on human development Homosexual Identity Formation has a lot to say about the normal aspects of how we all develop our sexual identity. Diversity is natural as are the common aspects indeed common aspects!
“Homosexual activities are behaviors that are common in adolescence and which may progressively contribute to sexual orientation and identity. Like masturbation, homosexual activity may be a means of experimentation and self-exploration. The fantasies which accompany masturbation and allow the adolescent to safely try out sexual possibilities and help him or her manage infantile sexual propensities which surface at this time of development. Early adolescent homosexuality carries this process further to include another person who aids in the process of self-discovery. Within this narcissistic alliance, homosexual activity offers opportunities for comparison, information gathering, experimentation reassurance, and help in dealing with guilt over infantile wishes
I put this here as an example of much that is out there that acknowledges what those of us who can deal with our own development know all too well. Yet some of us have problems. We can not accept our own sexuality and especially the fact that at one time or another our sexuality was relatively unchecked and normal, including certain lack of distinction between its manifestations toward all others regardless of sex. Depending on our individual circumstances the taboos were laid on us more or less quickly and often absolutely to the point that many of us are still unable to totally enjoy sex without some form of social guilt and repression. For the homophobe we have a particular form of what we all have been subject to. Read on below and I will elaborate.
Let us look at one of the myriad of studies that establish the abnormality of homophobia:http://www.pbs.org/...
The bulk of studies have sought to uncover the correlates of negative attitudes. Some findings are contradictory, such as the relationship between sex-role conformity (i.e., masculinity, femininity, androgyny) and attitudes. In general, however, some consistent patterns have been observed across different samples. When compared to those with more favorable attitudes toward lesbians and gay men, these studies have found that persons with negative attitudes:
1. are less likely to have had personal contact with lesbians or gay;
2. are less likely to report having engaged in homosexual behaviors, or to identify themselves as lesbian or gay;
3. are more likely to perceive their peers as manifesting negative attitudes, especially if the respondents are males;
4. are more likely to have resided in areas where negative attitudes are the norm (e.g., the midwestern and southern United States, the Canadian prairies, and in rural areas or small towns), especially during adolescence;
5. are likely to be older and less well educated;
6. are more likely to be religious, to attend church frequently, and to subscribe to a conservative religious ideology;
7. are more likely to express traditional, restrictive attitudes about sex roles;
8. are less permissive sexually or manifest more guilt or negativity about sexuality, although some researchers have not observed this pattern and others have reported a substantially reduced correlation with the effects of sex-role attitudes partialled out;
9. are more likely to manifest high levels of authoritarianism and related personality characteristics.
What seems clear here is that those who tend to adopt repressive political views and subject themselves to politically oppressive views are also those who will project that repression onto others.
Human development has many diverse aspects and like the mechanistic way our DNA contributes differently under different contextual circumstances, our psychological development can come out different due to even very subtle contextual differences and timing differences.
I would therefore posit that given the ubiquitous central aspects of sexuality prior to social pressures curtailing so much of it, that most of us tolerate far more than we experience and that some of us are afraid of even what we do allow ourselves to experience.
For me as a biologist it is so clear that channeling the inbuilt power of our sexual nature into procreation is basically driven by the need for the species to survive. Meanwhile sex can be one hell of a lot of fun in many ways!