It would be awesome if we could just blame religion for all of our closeted issues.
Unfortunately homophobia leaks deeper into our culture and psyche than religion could ever reach.
I think there's some truth to this, but it's a really mixed bag. Men tend to be victims of violence way more than women simply because they're men, and homosexual men are a minority compared to heterosexual men. Hetero male chauvanism in general is a big reason for homophobia. The big three religions in the west amplified this because of politics. The Christians, for example, were literally an underground cult beneath Rome (in the catacombs) and were outlaws. They resented the decadence of Rome, which included homosexuality and pederasty. So Christianity's counter-culture to Rome's decadence included homophobia.
It really depends on which culture you look at though, and when. In 15th century Italy, homosexuality was so rampant that the Catholic Church could not keep it under control. Back then, women were seen as inferior (thanks Original Sin), and many men believed that men were superior, so to lay with another man in some way was self-enhancing. Add to that a homosocial environment where men and women don't really mingle except for courtship and marriage, and it created a lot of homosexuality. During identity formation, a lot of men can be culturally coerced into homosexual acts, even if post-identity formation they are only into women. It's hard to envision a male chauvinistic culture that values male-male bonds because of misogyny, but it has been that extreme in the past. And in Italy, it was mainly the authority (the Church) that was against it... so what better way to join a counter-culture in one's youth like many 20 somethings do?
It works in reverse too. I mean, how many gay men are closeted and play the straight role because of culture, including fatherfood, when really they'd rather be with a man? It happens all the time. 40 or even 50 somethings coming out when their kids have grown up.
And this is really, really hard for most contemporary people to understand, but a sexual act does not define your sexuality. I can go stick my dick in a tree for all I care, and it doesn't mean I'm tree-sexual lol. Men who have sex with men are not necessarily gay (as we see in prisons). Men who have sex with women are not necessarily straight, though society would like us to believe they all are, and they certainly play the part because of cultural biases.
In other cultures, especially some warrior-based ones, male-male sexual relations are a coming of age thing that transfers manhood to a new man.
The majority of cultures, past and present, have a relatively neutral view toward homosexuality, as long as the man fulfills his family duties of procreation, taking a wife, etc. They don't care what he does on the side. Well I mean, they
do care, but not as badly if you're doing your duty. This is currently the case in China. It is
much easier to conceal your homosexual behaviour if you live a double life in China. People literally don't want to comprehend that Chinese people can be gay, so they pretend it's a western thing.
It's hard for narrow minded people to comprehend, but in a permissive culture, homosexual acts occur way, way more regularly... and this modern ideal of "gay" "straight" "bisexual" just doesn't exist. With women it's different. Homosexuality does not work the same way. Women display more sexual fluidity than men over the course of their lives. Men display more fluidity in permissive cultures and during formative years.
Kinsey proved that human sexual orientation is a spectrum, not an either/or situation, and that most adult human beings are on a spectrum somewhere between gay and straight. Relatively few are 100% one or the other. I mean, I relate to that. I'm attracted to men 99.998% of the time but maybe once in a blue moon (it's truly rare) I see a woman that I actually kind of get turned on for. But then my own identity conditioning prevents me from ever acting upon it.
