Example of the kind of intense pressures that straight men feel about disowning their sexual need for men
One straight man (i.e. masculine gendered, not heterosexual) who was accepting, but not open about his sexual need for men related this in a counseling session:
He went to the ancestral town of his father, and there met a distant cousin after a long, long time, someone whom he described as handsome and macho, who was much younger to him (he was around 24 yrs, the cousin was 17 years). He was immensely drawn to the cousin --- they had become great pals and he showed him around town. They spend a lot of time together.....and he almost fell in love with him.
He started giving subtle body signals to the cousin suggesting his sexual interest in him. The cousin didn't really like that! In fact he took it pretty badly. Nobody, said anything, but the cousin started keeping a distance from him, though formally kept being nice. By his behaviour he made it amply clear that he hated the idea of being with another man.
The guy came back to the city but couldn't get this guy off his mind. So he kept phoning him and stuff. The cousin kept ignoring him and snubbing for months, till one day the came to his senses and stopped bothering him. In fact from that day on he decided to keep a distance from him.
Two years passed by and the cousin came to attend the man's elder brother's marriage. The man had completely gotten the cousin off his mind. He was surprised though to find that this time the cousin started giving him sexual signals. The man was angry and hurt though, at the way he was rejected earlier. And so he ignored his advances and kept a formal distance from him.
This passed and they did not meet for another two years when the man went to his father's ancestral town again. This time he did not stay at the cousin's place and kept his distance. But the cousin kept trying to be over friendly with him.
It was amazing that he had been harbouring such strong desire for the man when in the beginning he seemed so averse to it.
Once, (as the man told me), as he was examining a painting on the wall, the cousin came and stood behind him, extremely closely, touching him with his crotch. The man just stood still and ignored him. He was still angry and rather unsure about this cousin.
One more year passed and this time the boy came to the man's city for further studies, to live in a hostel......but it seemed like he had chosen that city only so that he could be close to the man. This time the man too started giving back sexual hints (things never become open for straight men --- they will never say like --- hey I like you, lets have sex) --- and the courtship became too intense although, still subtle and unacknowledged.
The cousin still made it a point to tell the man that he is eagerly looking for a girl friend.
.........
The moral of the story is that the fact that men harbour a strong distaste for sex with other man reflects only the social stigma and conditioning. In this case, had the cousin not met this man, he would never have tasted the positive influence of having a man court you. And thus would never have gotten over his hatred.
Inspite of showing intense initial distaste the boy gradually harboured and developed a longing for the man over a period of two years. Even after six years he doesn't want to admit a sexual interest in men --- just seek it in indirect ways!
How do you think he would have voted on a poll like this, before he met the man?
What is the surety that men who are voting in this poll are not showing the same social hatred without really knowing themselves? or even when they know themselves, they have an intense hatred for such feelings, intense enough that they will never admit such a thing as a sexual need for other men, and possibly never ever act on them --- unless there is an excuse like a prison, or a hazing ritual or some other such thing, where the sexual need doesn't have to be acknowledged to perform a sexual act.
There is no reason to believe that the cousin would vote positively to a poll like this even today.....as it would psychologically bother him and haunt him for having acknowledged that he likes men.