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Homophobia has been around for a long time and in most cases is not a valid argument for the hate and fear people have towards homosexuals. This is a very important and relevant topic in today’s time. Many people claim that homophobia is a valid reason to hate gay people. In all reality, many times people who are homophobic just don’t understand gay people. If you look up homophobia in the dictionary, it would say something like fear of lesbians and gay men. This is somewhat true but very misleading. I believe it should say unreasonable or irrational fear, and while some include these thoughts, most do not.
This is a reflection of the overuse of the word, and the fact that most people feel their claims are valid. The reasons for homophobia are not usually valid and their effects can be everlasting and very hurtful, both emotionally and physically. Homophobia was first coined by psychologist George Weinberg in his book Society and the Healthy Homosexual (“Homophobia”). A year before this, the American Psychiatric Association voted to remove “Homosexuality” from the list of mental disorders. This was not a new concept, however. It was just given a name by Weinberg.
The word first appeared in an article in 1969 but it was used to refer to straight men’s fear that others might think they are gay (“Homophobia”). There are some very disturbing facts in regard to homosexuals and homophobia. Many gays and lesbians are the victim of anti-gay violence. However about 80% never report it for fear of being called a homosexual (National). Also 85% of teachers oppose integration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, or LGBT themes into their classes. Now homophobia is not only in schools. It is in the workplace, too. In a national survey, 191 employers were polled and the results were shocking.
Eighteen percent would fire, twenty-seven percent would refuse to hire, and twenty-six percent would refuse to promote any person they perceived to be lesbian, gay or bisexual (National). This is very interesting for me to learn. I think that this is stupid and shows peoples fears, and these fears are indeed irrational. There are organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, working on these issues. The ACLU is at the forefront of the LGBT rights and everything in relation to this. With more support, homosexual rights can become common practice in our society.
Now let’s move on to one of the most controversial issues dealing with homosexuals and their rights, marriage. Many people view homosexual marriage as wrong. They have many reasons for viewing it this way. The main reason is religion. Many feel that it is against God to be a homosexual. Not only this, but the individual beliefs that if two men or two women were to get married, it would be mocking the will of God. According to people who argue this, God intended for a man and a women to get married and have kids. If two men or two women got married, they would be unable to procreate, thus going against God’s will.
However, as stated in our class, not all heterosexual couples have children. So is this a valid reason? I do not believe so. Another reason given is that homosexual marriage will decrease the importance of family. Why? What does your importance of family have anything to do with other people? If you strongly value your family and consider them important I don’t see how two men or two women marrying will impact you at all. Many other homophobic heterosexuals feel that if too many same-sex marriages exist, it will degrade what we hold to be a “normal” family. People claim that this can be related to an alcoholic in the family.
This means people feel that a same-sex marriage would cause the same problems within the family, as that of an alcoholic in a heterosexual family. For example being shunned from the family, or not recognized as a member of the family. Another big argument would be one of psychological background. Many heterosexuals fear that if gay marriage is legalized, then they will see more publicly gay relationships and this may cause an unwanted reaction. As you will later see, fear that oneself is gay, is a strong relation to homophobic acts for many heterosexual men.
Some other arguments for homophobia are it’s not natural, it’s disgusting, it’s us versus them, inner fears of heterosexuals, and fear of rape. The weakest of these ideas is that it’s not natural. This is the weakest because homosexual acts are seen in other cultures and species. This can be seen in a movie called “For the Bible Tells Me So. ” In the segment dealing with this it states homosexual relationships are common in zebras, baboons, dolphins, sheep, buffalo, ducks, foxes, elephants, horses, gorillas, mosses, housecats, pigs, mice, rabbits and lions. This isn’t even the full list either. Many people find homosexual acts disgusting.
What exactly do they mean by this? If they mean gross to watch, then don’t watch it. Also, I am sure you could find other more disgusting things. Have they ever watched Fear Factor? The idea that it’s disgusting is seen as a very weak reason. Is there any way you can prove this? The “us versus them” idea is that if homosexual relations and acts become more predominate, then heterosexual ones will become obsolete and outdated (Bidstrup). This is ridiculous to think that both can not act within society. It is apparent they can, as there are places where gays and straights interact and nothing bad has come from it.
Another very strong argument for homophobic acts is the inner fear of heterosexual men. This is to say that many straight men fear that they themselves may be gay, and in order to suppress these feelings the only thing they can do is hate homosexuals. As Scott Bidstrup said they have this reaction “Hate and/or kill the Queer and you’re not like him, because you’ve distanced yourself from him. ” Do you remember the saying about “covering your butt”; this was originated from homophobic fears of rape. Many straight men fear that a gay man is going to rape him. This is the most ridiculous fear and reason for homophobia.
There are very few homosexual men that would actually want to have sex with a straight one. Why would a gay man go out of his way to make someone do something that wouldn’t be pleasurable for either person? It is just an inconceivable thought to have. It is very irrational; thus, I think the word irrational should be added to the definition. To wrap up I want to discuss the very unpleasant effects of homophobia. The effects can be both emotional and physical. The main emotional effect is depression. If you are constantly getting ridiculed, then you are going to fall into depression.
If you know you can’t be yourself and be accepted, then you become depressed. You are led to believe that there is no way to come out of this low point in your life and this can lead to suicidal thoughts. The LGBT community is four times more likely to commit suicide than the straight community (National). Also related is murder of homosexuals. The Matthew Shepard case is the most well known to both gays and straights alike and one that shocked the nation. Matthew Shepard was born on Dec 1, 1976. Twenty one years later, on October 7th Matthew was lured away with two guys claiming to be gay.
Once away the guys tied him to a fence and began to beat him and pistol whip him (“Funeral…”). They men left him there in freezing cold weather and he wasn’t found until eighteen hours later as a driver mistook him for a scarecrow. He was taken to the hospital and was put on life support because of severe trauma and fractures. He died on October 12, 1998. Even worse was the fact that while he was in the hospital on life support kids rode atop a homecoming float with a scarecrow resembling Matthews figure with a sign saying “I’m Gay” on it, and an obscene message on the back.
This is not the only murder or hate crime committed to or towards gays, a more recent one would be the murder of fifteen year old Lawrence King. He was shot on February 12, 2008 in school by a fellow classmate. The fourteen year old killed Lawrence by shooting him in the head twice with a handgun he brought to school. The physical effects of homophobia are on both homosexuals and heterosexuals. The obvious would be the harming of a gay person by himself or another, such as the case stated above. Homophobia has been around for a long time, and unfortunately, will probably be around for many more years to come.
This is the sad truth that gay activists are trying to fight. Gay rights are an issue that ranks among the top of current issues in the United States. Many homophobic feelings are unjustified and plain irrational. This is to say that there is nothing to fear about gay men. They are not going to take over the world, make you gay, or convert your children. The reasons for homophobia are not valid and their effects can be everlasting and very hurtful; socially, physically and emotionally. With proper education, homophobia could be eliminated altogether. Let’s hope that there is no future for homophobia.