PANY Scientific Meeting: Summary

Monday, November 10, 2003, 8:15 pm
Einhorn Auditorium, Lenox Hill Hospital, 131 E. 76th Street, NYC

Homophobia:  A Modern Psychoanalytic Perspective
Jennifer I. Downey, MD
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, NY
&
Richard C. Friedman, MD
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Payne Whitney Clinic, New York, NY

Summary

The terms “homophobia” and “internalized homophobia” originated from outside psychoanalysis.  The former signifies irrationally negative attitudes towards non-heterosexual people, and the latter, irrationally negative attitudes towards the self for being lesbian/gay and/or for
experiencing sexual desire for same-gendered others.

In this talk, we discuss psychodynamic influences on internalized
homophobia from a developmental perspective. Antihomosexual attitudes in individuals with internalized homophobia usually are condensed, symbolic expressions of self-hatred that acquire special meanings during different phases of development.  The manifestations of such negative attitudes are diverse.
The psychological mechanisms involved in the genesis of internalized
homophobia supplement those discussed in the classical psychoanalytic literature on characterological masochism.

Extrapsychoanalytic research on sex differences in psychological development as well as the psychological functioning of gay and lesbian persons sheds light on transference-countertransference phenomena in the treatment of patients with internalized homophobia.  We present a treatment vignette of a woman
and discuss similarities and differences between internalized homophobia and other forms of self hatred in men and women

Reference
Friedman RC, Downey JI (2002).  Sexual Orientation and Psychoanalysis: Sexual Science and Clinical Practice.  New York: Columbia Univ. Press.