this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2026
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[–] TaterTot@piefed.social 46 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

I don't think the common thread is that they are "secretly gay".

But I do believe one of the most common threads is self-loathing/self-hatred and emotional repression, which they then over compensate for by forcing draconian policy on others who are more comfortable with themselves.

Drug use, infidelity, the need to justify a lifetime of privilege, over valuing the 1950's propagandized 'traditional American family', an uncountable list of problems with women, and yes, even repressed sexuality, are just some of the many root causes of their self-hatred.

I agree with your point that many people reveal latent homophobia, or at the very least a willingness to use it to disparage others, when discussing closeted LGBTQ Republican's. And that doing so is just frankly fucked up. But I don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water here. Much of their awful policies are because they are secretly something.

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 21 points 3 days ago

I agree with your assessment, a lot of them are definitely slimy bottom dwellers. I don’t want people to stop calling that out at all, it’s the equation of sleazeball with skeletons in the closet and gay that people should knock off.

[–] HappyFrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone 53 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I haven't seen anyone blame their stupid position because of their secret homosexuality. I have however seen people call out their hypocrisy in being gay while being a part of the anti-gay party.

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 23 points 3 days ago (2 children)

https://tes.lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/lemmy.blahaj.zone/45532986

Feel free to peruse the comments here that go on about how they just want men with high T because they find them so sexy.

[–] HappyFrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone 0 points 3 days ago

I didn't find any comment that blamed their sectret homosexuality. I think you're just reading into jokes too much.

[–] lime@feddit.nu -5 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 20 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

Theory for what, why they're shitty people? Do I need to explain to you that straight people can be shitty?

E: Jesus Christ, do you mean the testosterone thing?? Are you going to sit here and tell me you think every straight man with testosterone anxieties is secretly gay?

[–] lime@feddit.nu -3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

yeah like, what is the underlying idea? because there has to be a reason the man just told the entire world he thinks the military isn't manly enough. from a neutral perspective it's just an incredible own goal, so there has to be some rationale other than he wants soldiers to be bald and hairy.

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Right wing straight men have a lot of anxiety over sperm count and testosterone levels dropping since the 60s, and their solution is a bandaid (more testosterone) instead of looking at the cause (likely pollution and worse physical health). These values are based in heterosexist beliefs about testosterone and masculinity.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 1 points 3 days ago

right, that's the obvious reason, but announcing it directly was obviously going to be a pr disaster. so what made it worth doing?

[–] eestileib@sh.itjust.works -2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I know what someone who wants dick but can't admit it to themselves acts like. I used to be one.

And I'm looking at Pete Hegseth and Jesse Watters right now.

I know a straight guy who is on gender-affirming TRT, when I asked him what it was like, he talked about how he found all kinds of women more attractive, how he would see any bit of jiggle and it would turn him on.

My friend's fascination was withwomen's bodies, not men's bodies, that's what he found himself thinking about.

The way Hegseth talks about Manly Fit Men makes it clear where his interests lie.

It's not that hard.

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 17 points 3 days ago (2 children)

You are quite literally projecting. Your own personal experience and struggles with internalized homophobia doesn't excuse using homophobia as a political weapon.

[–] tjsauce@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I don't think the person you're responding to believes that the problem is politicians being gay, but that they can't separate their feelings about their sexuality from their job as politicians. Just because this fact can be used by homophobes to demonize gay people doesn't mean that Republicans in office don't have a pattern of sexual self repression that colors their politics.

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

You're talking about confirmation bias, not an actual rule about the composition of the Republican Party or Republican lawmakers as a whole. Every time a Republican is outed it sticks in your mind because of the hypocrisy, but you don't notice or remember the ~95% of them that are straight and never get 'caught' because they aren't attracted to men. Turning around and using the closeted minority to insinuate that, actually, any given Republican is gay and closeted is just homophobia.

the sheer patience in your replies 💚

[–] eestileib@sh.itjust.works -2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

How am I using homophobia as a political weapon? What the fuck?

Did you think Lindsay Graham was straight?

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Did you miss that the thread I linked is not about Lindsay Graham and is in fact about Pete Hegseth? Did you black out on the part where you talked about how Hegseth was obviously gay because of the fixation on men having high testosterone? Blaming sexist policies on people you think are closeted is homophobia, I don't care how much you think you see yourself in him.

[–] eestileib@sh.itjust.works 0 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Sometimes pieties get in the way of seeing what's in front of your face.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mass_Psychology_of_Fascism

In any case we seem to agree that these are bad policies and I'm assuming we are both doing what we can to stop them in the way we best see fit.

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I don't consider it a 'piety' to say that it's promoting homophobic viewpoints to talk about how much members of the Trump admin want to suck cock every time politics comes up, and that there are much better ways to attack them that don't rely on homophobia 🤷‍♂️

[–] eestileib@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I don't say anything about Vance or Mullen or McConnell or Rubio or Kennedy being closeted.

I've criticized all of them plenty though, because they suck. They're not throwing off 100,000 roentgens of closet power though.

It seems like maybe you are operating with a default assumption of obligate heterosexuality, and think that it's automatically an insult to think about other people having latent desires.

How many married men have hit you up asking for cock on the sly? Ever had to navigate dating needing to distinguish between men who are attracted to women with penises vs men who see trans women as a psychological bridge to gay?

I've seen this from multiple angles, I've been in the closet before, and I'm currently one of the people that guys like Pete Hegseth are trying to get to top them. I know people who do sex work because they have no other option and closeted men are real people that often present real life danger to the people they get fucked by.

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It seems like maybe you are operating with a default assumption of obligate heterosexuality, and think that it's automatically an insult to think about other people having latent desires.

You want to tell me it wasn’t being used in an insulting way in the thread I linked? Really? What do you think was the point of it?

I’m no stranger to sex work, I was trans in NYC in the late 00s. I still don’t think it’s acceptable to deploy vibes based accusations of being closeted as political discourse.

[–] eestileib@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 days ago

I agree that if I were writing a letter to a US Rep or giving a public address arguing for the proposition "Hegseth should be immediately impeached" and at any point stated "he sets off the community's gaydar like an LA earthquake sets off car alarms", that would be bad politics even if the argument was effective.

But I'm shitposting on Lemmy, and I don't want to self-censor about the fact that queer people need to be particularly careful of people like Hegseth, and about pointing out the larger way that the fascist project exploits exactly this kind of psychosexual tension.

[–] Malgas@beehaw.org 9 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (4 children)

I will say that I don't understand their repeated assertions that sexuality is a choice. I don't see how anyone could believe that unless they're actively repressing something.

But I don't know where that disconnect lies. Is it just a bad faith argument, and they don't really believe that? Do we have a fundamentally different understanding of what sexuality and sexual orientation consist of?

Edit: spelling

[–] A_be_seedy@beehaw.org 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Yea, straight cis guy here. I once got kissed by a dude after I actively flirted with him for like 3 hours at a party once. Honestly, 10/10 best kiss of my life, objectively, but that's how I learned I was definitely straight. Sexuality very much isn't a choice.

[–] Wirlocke@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 3 days ago

I know it's trite to point out republican hypocrisy but anyone else notice how they insist women must be modest because men can't control themselves while also believing sexuality is a choice?

Well, is it an impulse or a choice then??

[–] lath@piefed.social 3 points 3 days ago

Could be a combination of factors. Sexual education is basically nonexistent. One could confuse arousal with sexuality. One could also misconstrue a biological response such as a random erection in inappropriate settings as a sign of sexual orientation. Combined with religious and social pressure, eschewed beliefs can emerge and result in oppressive reactions.

Wrong conclusions, fear and stubbornness - a dangerous cocktail to be sure...

[–] ToastedRavioli@midwest.social 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

To be fair, you cant logically explain a position that someone came to have for baseless illogical reasons. They dont have to have a logical repression based reason for believing being gay is a choice if they believe being gay is a choice due to illogical sky daddy issues

[–] Quokka@quokk.au 27 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (3 children)

Liberal types love to weaponise homosexuality and pretend conservatives right wingers are secretly all repressed gay people.

Sure maybe one or two prominent examples might be, but the overwhelming majority are just hateful shits.

The most annoying thing is the tired line of “I’m not being homophobic only pointing out hypocrisy.”

[–] nightlily@leminal.space 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It of course manages to absolve them of any of accusations that they might be homophobic. They aren’t gay, and it’s only self-hating gays that are homophobic after all.

[–] Hawanja@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I mean, Lindsey Graham was secretly gay, and was definetly a bad person.
Then again, George Santos is publically gay, and also a bad person.
Maybe just Republicans are bad people, even if they're gay?

[–] Draconic_NEO@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 3 days ago

It also frames the idea that they're like that because they're secretly gay, like they're a bad person for being gay. Which when you say it out loud that way actually sounds pretty homophobic as fuck.

Also accusing people of being gay like it's somehow a bad thing is pretty shitty as well.

[–] regdog@lemmy.world 0 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yes, it is definitely the left who weaponizes sexual identities.

[–] Quokka@quokk.au 3 points 2 days ago

Liberals aren’t leftists.

The US is ruled by a secret cabal of ~~jews~~ gays /s

[–] justOnePersistentKbinPlease@fedia.io 21 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Being secretly homosexual is irrelevant to their behaviour.

It has everything to do with them being oppressed into thinking it is evil and unnatural by religion.

[–] zikzak025@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

It's semi-relevant, but like another user above explained in more detail, it's just a component of a larger trend of self loathing and repression.

Religion is ultimately to blame, really. Who cares if a Republican is gay. It's only a problem when they start pushing major anti-LGBT initiatives because they think that earns them enough good person points with invisible sky daddy to make up for their own "sin".

[–] hildegarde@lemmy.blahaj.zone 15 points 3 days ago

I only conclude repression when there's a basis for it. There are plenty of people who are bad on their own merits. But when you hear someone describe homosexuality as a temptation that takes effort to resist, or one who thinks everyone would be gay but for their religion or something, the conclusion is reasonable.

Some people are transphobes because they're just genuinely bad people. But then you hear a transphobe justify their hatred out of a fear that they could be tricked into transitioning, no bro its repression. Most people are happy with their gender, take the hormones.

Most people are genuinely disinterested in those they are not attracted to and secure in their own gender. If they show you that not being the case, it being due to repression is not an unreasonable thing to conclude.

[–] Hawanja@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I mean, if it quacks like a duck...

(P.S. - Actual out gay people usually make much better leaders.)

[–] ComfortableRaspberry@feddit.org 10 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Jens Spahn and Alice Weidel enter the ring..

I agree that some people are miserable fucks because they are closeted. But the most of them are just greedy assholes that love to hurt other people.

[–] Hawanja@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Well I don't think it's being closeted that makes people bigoted self-hating assholes, but rather bigoted self-hating assholes usually remain closeted.
As in, people have the cause and effect the wrong way around.

[–] SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 3 days ago

Secretly gay and self hating, sure, maybe.

But the core thread is ignorant fear and looking at Nazism as a solution.

[–] WhoIzDisIz@lemmy.today 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Why do they look like Jeff Dunham puppets to me? The one on the right especially looks like Junior.