Out of the Closet?
Some effects of the closet on GLBTs include:
Clandestine sexual practices
Anonymous sexual practices
Inappropriate marriages
Self-loathing (internalized homophobia)
Magnet for disease (STD and otherwise)
Truncated sense of wholeness (disempowerment)
Superficial relationships with straights and gays
Imposed hypocrisy
Sheer pain of not being oneself
Intense loneliness of not being wholly possessed by or possessing a life companion
Senator Craig and Ted Haggard are the victims, not of hypocrisy, but of the closet—a closet of our making. This is a true case of blaming the victim when the finger should be pointing at us.
A corollary is at work here. Just as the closet makes this behavior inevitable, the elimination of the closet makes it go away. So, if you find the behavior of certain people reprehensible, instead of punishing them in the closet, allow them to live their lives in the full light of day. They and you will be all the better for it.
Comments
In his own self-defense, he insists that "I'm not gay," rather than "I didn't do anything illegal." Or is that just what the media are choosing to emphasize? And how can it be that our society still cares more about whether or not he's gay than whether or not he did anything illegal?