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Cary Caruso

Professor Granillo

English 103

28 May 2019

Hozier’s Help against Homophobia

According to Gary Gates, an American demographer at UCLA’s School of Law, over

eight million people in the United States are lesbian, gay, transgender, or bisexual. However,

there are currently seventy three countries that have banned homosexuality (World Economic

Forum). This is something that has slowly been changing within America, but gays still suffer all

over due to the homophobic ideologies. Andrew Hozier-Byrne, also known as Hozier, released a

song called “Take Me to Church” expressing the pressure many LGBT communities have to deal

with to be seen as normal, but the song also serves as a case of internalized homophobia to depict

how stressful some queer people’s lives truly are. Looking through a queer theory lens, concepts

like internalized homophobia, marginalization, and minoritizing views are used to show how

detached some people’s lives are in today’s society, thus “Take Me to Church” serves as an

important voice towards the LGBTQ history and movement.

Hozier-Byrne is an Irish musician who made a clear stance supporting gay people’s rights

in 2013. He spoke out for those who felt they did not have a voice in efforts to help motivate

others to speak out and speaks out for those in the LGBTQ community in America who are

scared to express who they really are and constantly live under fear to be themselves. The song

“Take Me to Church” helps convey the hardships that many people within this community have

to face and helps shed light to the pressure put upon people’s daily lives to try and open a
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relationship of both heterosexual and same-sex relationship people. The artist makes a solid

argument against homophobia and addresses that religion is a simple excuse to encourage

homophobia. In the music video “Hozier - Take Me To Church” two gay males are being hunted

by a religious cult and throughout the video they are secret lovers due to their circumstances

(Hozier - Take Me To Church 00:00:44-00:02:50). Eventually, one of the males is captured and

assumed to be killed by the fire and dramatic end which signifies that Hozier acknowledges the

issue of oppression constantly face and the fear it brings upon gay communities

(00:03:22-00:04:01). Hozier-Byrne throughout the video uses internalized homophobia to

recreate an idea of how pressuring people’s lives within the LGBTQ community really is.

People often are unfamiliar with the term internalized homophobia because it is not

something people are often told about. Internalized homophobia is defined as self-hatred within

some of the people in the LGBTQ due to traumatizing events that happen during adolescence to

adulthood (Tyson 305). Due to gay being an abnormality in past history, people grew up hiding

their sexuality. In addition to this, the United States is an example of heteronormative society

(305). This means that it is assumed for everyone be what is conventional. Therefore, many

people within the LGBTQ are going against the heteronormative which can be very pressuring

which can lead to internalized homophobia. The artist uses this concept throughout the music

video to deliver the message that many gay people suffer from internalized homophobia due to

the social norm being heterosexuality and the oppression against nonheterosexual relationships.

Hozier-Byrne throughout “Take Me to Church” can be seen using internalized

homophobia to help illustrate to people not a part of the LGBTQ what it is like to go against the

heteronormative which almost every country either has heterosexual as the normality; some
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countries going as far as even banning homosexuality (World Economic Forum). The words in

verse one “knows everybody’s disapproval” and “she tells me “worship in the bedroom””

indicates through the use of “church” to express that gay people know about all of the

disapproval from everybody around them (Hozier - Take Me To Church 00:00:09-00:00:34). In

addition to that, many religions oppose same sex marriage, so it gives off the impression that

gays are supposed to “worship in the bedroom” instead due to their sexuality. This is the pressure

many people within the LGBT community have to face. The meaning behind this is that gay

people are constantly being mistreated and put aside leaving a internalized homophobia

community amongst the LGBTQ. This often leads to people thinking they are mentally ill which

is why Hozier addresses the idea of being sick throughout his song.

In verse two, “Drain the whole sea. Get something shiny.” has a very significant meaning

for the LGBTQ community (00:01:33-00:01:48). Religion is often one of the biggest anti-gay

arguments against LGBT communities which Hozier attacks throughout the second verse to

show his support for gay communities. The lyrics “Drain the whole sea. Get something shiny” is

a metaphor expressing that people should let go of all of their biggest secrets and drain it, which

then they will “get something shiny” which is the beautiful parts of themselves that they

discovered when they let go of their internalized homophobia. Marginalization is something else

Hozier-Byrne talks about within the song to try and increase the confidence of people in these

communities.

Marginalization can be seen through anti-gay communities to try and make people within

the LGBTQ community to feel inferior to heteronormal people (Clarke). This is done by giving

off the impression of inferiority and pressure of conforming to heteronormative ideals which
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most countries consist of. Many countries believe in a heteronormative society, so they belittle to

those who are not of similar ideology. Words such as “sissy” are often used as belittlement to

make people feel like a lesser category of a man which these types of words are often associated

to the LGBTQ community (Thomas 156). Due to this, Hozier tries to comfort those who are

facing the pressure of marginalization and questions the rights of people who are condescending

upon nonheterosexual people.

Hozier supports those facing marginalization by anti-gay activists by praising gay people

and also questioning the sense of entitlement some of these people have who are constantly

belittling gay communities. Throughout the song, he mocks religious hate against gay people and

proves this by saying things like, “I’ll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies” which attacks

religious people’s beliefs because it directly attacks their personal beliefs calling by them lies

and is praising gay people as they are referred to as dogs which is often associated with loyal

(Hozier - Take Me To Church 00:01:00-00:01:04). In the second verse Hozier sings, “something

meaty for the main course. That’s a fine looking high horse. What you got in the stable? We’ve a

lot of starving faithful” which is another attack on religious people who often reprimand gay

people telling them that they are on a high horse (00:01:45-00:01:56). Hozier is saying that

people are always looking for something meaty meaning they want to find a reason to hate on

LGBTQ communities and that they are self-righteous and uses the metaphor “high horse” to

justify their actions. The stable is where someone keeps the horses and also a dark place which

signifies their horses are being kept by a dark evil side of them, which makes them feel morally

just even though it is wrong. “We’ve a lot of starving faithful” expresses that the LGBTQ is a

large group of people who have been always hoping to be treated better even though so many
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people treat them poorly. Relating this back to marginalization, Hozier is fighting for gay

communities to stop allowing these oppressive groups dictate the way they act and help make a

stand for themselves. Heterosexuality being the only accepted group has been slowly changing

and Hozier-Byrne through this song made a serious push to try and fight for gay rights and to

stop all types of oppression these communities may be burdened with. This also supports gay

rights because it is showing sympathy for the audience and also is attacking those who oppose it

calling their views self-righteous and uses metaphors to call them out. This song influences the

communities to strike change within the United States and all over the world as society changes

and becomes more accepting. The artist also uses minoritizing views to boost self-esteem of

individuals who are facing hatred from anti-gays.

Minoritizing views is the idea that there are certain individuals that are truly born gay and

people born with the same trait will relate to them (Kirkup). People often use this as an attack

against gay people and twist the words saying that gays are born this way and that they are born

evil. Although the original meaning is not supposed to have a negative depiction of the

definition, anti-gay activists have derived the meaning into something that oppresses gay

communities and continues to make them feel less of a person that the heteronormative society

which Hozier talks about throughout “Take Me to Church.” Hozier-Byrne addresses this within

his song, but uses the hatred from anti-gays to attempt to inspire the LGBTQ community to love

themselves for who they are regardless of what others consider them.

Evaluating Hozier’s words, “we were born sick, you heard them say it” starts off with the

idea of minoritizing views and does not express disagreement which makes the audience believe

that what anti-gays are saying is true (Hozier - Take Me To Church 00:00:26-00:00:30).
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However, the artist then then says, “I was born sick, but I love it” which is supporting gay

communities through the idea that it is okay to be born that way even though people are calling

them evil and other hateful things (00:00:41-00:00:44). To add on, he first uses “we” and then

“I” which is intentional because it shows Hozier taking minoritizing views into his own account

and accepting himself rather than letting other people’s views define him. The artist is making

his position very clear that it is okay and to accept oneself regardless of what other people think.

This is an essential part within queer theory because minoritizing views can often lead to

internalized homophobia because people are using being born that way as a way to say that they

are born evil and sick which makes people not want to admit of their condition of being gay.

This is an important aspect of gay activist ideas because for someone to accept themselves, they

must first accept themselves for who they are. Hozier-Byrne is making the point that it is okay to

be born this way sheds positive light all across the United States for people to rise up and push

for gay rights.

Hozier-Byrne wrote this song to help further the development of gay acceptance and push

for gay rights. As of today, there are over 8.5 million gays across the world and this number is

increasing each year. In the past, gays were socially outcasted and many were often killed which

is why this song serves as such an important reminder of the history as well and the need for

changes. This song is a significant way to encourage an evaluation on societal oppression gay

communities face on a daily basis and to help ignite a movement for gay rights all over the

world. Hozier also strongly believes that churches provide an excuse for homophobia which is

why this message conveys such a strong meaning. This song is telling people, “it’s time to stop
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making excuses for our hatred and to let it all go and start accepting one another for who they

want to be” which could make this world a much better place.
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Works Cited

Clarke, Victoria, et al. “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Appearance and Embodiment: A

Critical Review of the Psychological Literature.” ​Psychology of Sexualities Review​, vol.

3, no. 1, Sept. 2012, pp. 51–70. ​EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=102486385&site=ehost-live.

Gates, Gary. “How Many People Are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender?” ​Williams

Institute​, 28 Mar. 2013,

williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/census-lgbt-demographics-studies/how-many-peo

ple-are-lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender/.

Hozier. "Hozier - Take Me To Church" ​Youtube​, 25 Mar. 2014,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVjiKRfKpPI

Hutt, Rosamond. “This Is the State of LGBTI Rights around the World in 2018.” ​World

Economic Forum,​ 14 June 2018,

www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/lgbti-rights-around-the-world-in-2018/.

Thomas, François, et al. “Unprotected Sex and Internalized Homophobia.” ​Journal of Men’s

Studies,​ vol. 22, no. 2, Spring 2014, pp. 155–162. ​EBSCOhost,​

doi:10.3149/jms.2202.155.

Tyson, Lois. ​Critical Theory Today: a User-Friendly Guide​. 3rd ed., Routledge, 2015.

Kirkup, Kyle. “The Origins of Gender Identity and Gender Expression in Anglo-American Legal

Discours.” ​University of Toronto Law Journal,​ vol. 68, no. 1, Winter 2018, pp. 80–117.

EBSCOhost​, doi:10.3138/utlj.2017-0080.