(tapping the sign) characterising loudly queerphobic conservatives as self-loathing and closeted, whether "satirically" (lol) or otherwise, just feeds into the already pervasive cultural conception of queerness as something dirty and shameful
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the "jokes" about conservatives who secretly cross-dress, meet men on the DL, etc all have an element of ghoulish anticipation of the public humiliation of the subject for engaging in behaviours that are only shameful if you think queerness is shameful
furthermore, this hypothetical closeted queer conservative almost always exists in the public mind as a deviant and a predator, implicitly (or sometimes explicitly) tying queerness to predation and deviancy
the absolute relish with which supposed progressives will talk about queerphobic conservatives as secretly preying on young men, getting off on cross-dressing or sexual humiliation etc etc, betrays their belief that queerness is inherently dangerous, sleazy, unnatural, a driver of sadistic impulse
the need to imagine a deep and secret motive for bigotry also demonstrates an inability to comprehend harm done to a community as not on some level earned or deserved, the logical result of that community's existence
(this has the nice side-effect for ostensible progressives of allowing them to imagine themselves as people who have risen above the natural desire to openly hate a group of deviants and show them outward tolerance instead)
finally, imagining queerphobes as self-loathing and closeted is an insight into how those same progressives imagine themselves reaching if they were queer: with disgust, self-hate and denial of traits they see as fundamentally unnatural, perverted and dangerous
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