title: Homosexuality and totalitarianism.
abstract: Since the dissolution of Communism left the Right with no unifying enemy, some conservatives may be turning to the gay world as the new "evil empire." This article explores the ideology that underpins the recent upsurge of gay-baiting. Its central thesis is that in identifying the homosexual as the demonic "other" the cultural Right is offering us another form of ersatz Christianity masquerading as tradition but actually infected with the virus of modernity. The paper classifies homophobia as an essentially secular phenomenon, reminiscent of other ideologies which have arisen as a substitute for religion.
authors.affiliation: Department of History, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Birken
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000523:psychology; D002835:Christianity; D005260:Female; D006716:Homosexuality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011056:Political Systems; D011287:Prejudice; D012071:Religion and Sex; D012945:Social Values