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I think very few people are homophobic. But I think there are a lot who are heterosexist.
To answer the orignal question, I would love proof of where questioning the lack of civil rights and hatred for any minority has been a detriment to our society? And how is advocating for the rights of a minority against the power and will the majority, sacrificing and denying anything? I would argue that to allow injustice go unquestioned because it is the "will" of the majority is in fact denying our rights to analyze, delineate, and determine what we stand for as a cohesive society.
Last edited by culturedmom; 12-21-2010 at 04:37 PM..
The word homophobia has been used in threads here on City Data to belittle people with questions and opinions about homosexuals and their behavior or motives on this message board when the opinion does not agree with their own about social and political issues regarding homosexuality.
I have noticed that whenever someone with an opinion different from those who support people who define themselves as homosexual make a statement which some believe is critical of homosexuality they are instantly labeled as HOMOPHOBIC.
Our American society attempts to practice the broad acceptance of people no matter what their cultural, social (including sexual identity), ethnic, religious or political position, etc. is in opposition of their own personal beliefs.
We elevate this concept to the highest level of altruistic expression by way of law to benefit society, which is (from time to time) not widely accepted by the majority of people in our country.
Will questioning cultural mores, to be accommodating of social minorities be the detriment of American society?
Are we as Americans with our own unique social and cultural identity denying and sacrificing our innate need to analyze, delineate, and determine what we stand for as a cohesive society destroy our culture for the benefit of being politically correct?
As a prerequisite, I think too many people try to dissect the word "homophobic" down to its lowest etymological level. Yes if you break apart the word to its smallest particles, it means "fear of the same". Let's just all let that go and move forward with the vernacular definition that "homophobia" means "prejudiced against gays". With that being said....
..I see the word homophobia being used a lot on city-data as well. And it is almost always directed at homophobic people.
The fact of the matter is that homophobes want their cake and want to eat it too. If you say "I have nothing against gay people, I am not homophobic, but gays are aberrant and practicing a chosen lifestyle" then that is no different then saying "I have nothing against the coloreds, I am not racist, but black people are thieves and dangerous". You are displaying prejudice with either statement.
If you decide to make a sweeping statement accusing an entire sub-group or minority of some shared undesirable behavior, then that is the very definition of prejudice. Period.
If you made the statement "Everyone knows that all jews are money hungry and run Hollywood" then you would be anti-semetic. Whether or not you view yourself as anti-semetic in your own head is immaterial. Whether or not you have a god-given or constitutional right to be anti-semetic is immaterial. Whether or not you feel it is "fair" to be labeled anti-semetic is immaterial. Whether or not you would commit violence against jews is immaterial. If you make the above statement it is fair for a 3rd party to say "you are anti-semetic".
I have called people homophobic on this board before, and never without cause. I understand that there is prejudice in the world. I am okay with that. We are all guilty of it at some point in our lives. We all must strive to be better people.
But you don't get to be dishonest about your prejudice. You don't get to wrap it up in a pretty bow, or explain it away like it is nothing. If you wish to deny homosexuals the same basic rights enjoyed by heterosexuals, then you are HOMOPHOBIC. Plain and simple. And if you want to crouch your homophobia in some philisophical or religous more, then you should expect someone to call BS.
I could not make the statement "A black man is not smart enough to be president" and then follow it up with "....but I'm not racist!!!" That is foolish. If I made that statement I would expect someone to say "Hold on there buddy...".
Yet people like the OP, and others in this thread, think they can make disparging remarks about homosexuals, or advocate denying homosexuals rights, and that their prejudice should be excused because it is based upon their religious beliefs or personal mores. But we don't have to excuse it, and we shouldn't. It is alright to call these people HOMOPHOBES.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LuckyGem
Are we as Americans with our own unique social and cultural identity denying and sacrificing our innate need to analyze, delineate, and determine what we stand for as a cohesive society destroy our culture for the benefit of being politically correct?
Not at all. We as Americans must understand that a society is made up of many different people, and that not eveyrone is forced to bend to our whims. As there is no proof that homosexuality or rights for homosexuals in any way destroys our culture, then calling out homophobic behavior when we observe it is the morally correct action to take. There is no proof that societal acceptance of gays is detrimental to society, in fact, all the proof points to the opposite.
Since the beggining of American society, the majority has always selected a group, a minority, to treat with derision, to scapegoat, to persecute. Currently that group is homosexuals. But as I look at the victims of prejudice that came before me, the Jews, the Chineses, The Irish, the Blacks, women, Quakers etc. I rest easy, because while I know there will ALWAYS be homophobes, I also know that there numbers will get smaller with each passing year.
And I am sorry Muslims and Mexicans, because you are now becoming the scapegoat of small and petty people, and it really really sucks.
The term homophobia isn't just simply a label placed on people who don't like gay people. Homophobia is the backbone of American masculinity. We say things like "take it like a man" "Don't be such a f@g" "quit acting like a little girl"... In order to perpetuate the manly man image, there needs to an opposite pole to balance it out. Then we created gender roles and called them "natural" and anything that doesn't fit the dreamy mold of whatever manly is this week becomes some unnatural abomination. Homophobia is a biproduct (as well as the chief enabler) of enforcing an artificially constructed system of gender roles.
In short, homophobia isn't just a label, it's something that we live without even realizing it.
Nobody is quite sure, but there seem to be a certain set of genes than can interact to produce homosexuality. Or, also it is theorized, and a distinct possibility, that hormonal changes during pregnancy can cause a different release of hormones at critical stages in fetal development ('extra' testostrone or estrogen, say) which can make homosexuality more likely. In any case, there is plenty of evidence that sexual drive is biological (and can runsin families), they just aren't quite sure exactly how.
Whatever the cause, no scientist worth his/her salt believes a person can "choose" whom he/she is attracted to. Could YOU wake up tomorrow and "decide" that you find your own sex attractive while feeling uninterested in the opposite sex? How can anyone claim that such a strong drive as sexual/affectational attraction can be "switched on and off" at whim??
Never mind how ludicrous it is to suggest that that people would choose a condition that puts them at a disadvantage in society, with a much smaller "dating pool", likely to face rejection and discrimination, with less or in some cases no support from peers. Most folks in this world, almost everyone, makes choices that make their life EASIER. Heterosexuals have it easier than homosexuals in virtually every way; why would someone give up heterosexual privelege just to be part of an often despised minority by choice?
It is what it is, but since we are talking about human beings who aren't harming anyone--certainly not you--I can't fathom why it concerns you so much or that you won't take someone's (millions of someones) own word for it when they say they didn't choose it. Don't you think they know themselves better than you do?
Homophobia, Heterophobia, and Humanophobia in the USA and Political Correctness
As long as some view this as a divisive issue, it will be one, it need not be a contagious divisive issue, If someone else is shallow enough to be swayed by skin color, height, hair color, sexual orientation, religious denomination, race, or place of origin, it need not be contagious, Reason is a mobs' worst enemy. Blind fear and ignorance are it's best friend.
The word homophobia has been used in threads here on City Data to belittle people with questions and opinions about homosexuals and their behavior or motives on this message board when the opinion does not agree with their own about social and political issues regarding homosexuality.
I have noticed that whenever someone with an opinion different from those who support people who define themselves as homosexual make a statement which some believe is critical of homosexuality they are instantly labeled as HOMOPHOBIC.
Our American society attempts to practice the broad acceptance of people no matter what their cultural, social (including sexual identity), ethnic, religious or political position, etc. is in opposition of their own personal beliefs.
We elevate this concept to the highest level of altruistic expression by way of law to benefit society, which is (from time to time) not widely accepted by the majority of people in our country.
Will questioning cultural mores, to be accommodating of social minorities be the detriment of American society?
Are we as Americans with our own unique social and cultural identity denying and sacrificing our innate need to analyze, delineate, and determine what we stand for as a cohesive society destroy our culture for the benefit of being politically correct?
After reading your threads and posts for well over a year.... I think your question is rather.......well.....interesting.......I have often posted that I would answer any respectful questions about my being gay.......
Yet I've gotten few legitimate queries and yes..........I've considered many posters here to be homophobes......so help me and other gay people to understand what you and others are so afraid of and mad as heck at??????
I would argue that few straight people are "afraid" of anything that has to do with gayness, other than the early propensity of gay men to contract and spread HIV/AIDs.
We are a little angry, though. Angry, for example, at the sudden wrenching of our language into redefinitions of marriage to change from "man and wife" to "two (so far) people", and the changing of our military from "a force that defends our country and kills our enemies" to "an agency charged with forcing young men and women to cohabit with openly homosexual members of the same sex." In the first case, we feel mocked and our commited unions of husbands and wives -- two opposites, the natural production of children and the union of families through the blending and inheritance of genes -- cheapened by the legal imposition on our cuture of what amounts to a travesty of marriage with two "husbands" or "wives": absurd on its face, and a contradiction of all normal human behavior; in the second case, we are made more than a little uneasy by the prospect of loading yet more non-military responsibility on our armed forces, beyond the babysitiing role they perform in Iraq and Afghanistan, while simultaneously asking them to kill bad guys but not hurt (the) civilians (who probably hate them anyway), and now saying "okay, pretend that it's okay to live, sleep, shower, with members of the same sex who may want to have sex with you." This is a recipe for something, but a better and more combat-ready military is not it.
Most straight people are willing to live and let live with gays. Just don't attempt to force us to pretend that "marriage" means any two adults getting dressed up and eating a big cake, or that the defense of our country depends on gays ogling straights in the shower without fear of reprisal, and that a large chunk of the defense budget needs to be set aside to adjudicating harrassment lawsuits and he-said he-said / she-said she-said tiffs, spats, and worse. In other words, stop pretending that straights and gays are the same. We're not. And isn't that, after all, what "celebrating gay pride" is all about? Celebrating all those glorious "differences"? Isn't that, in the end, the whole point of sexual PREFERENCE?
Now you can call me a homophobe if it makes you feel better. I'm not even sure what the term means, though I'm sure folks are lined up to explain to me why I'm evil and need to be re-educated. But I really don't think that I'm arguing from fear, ignorance, or intolerance. If anything, the ignorance and intolerance are on the side of those who would tell straight people like me that everything I know and believe about marriage and the military service (both of which I have experienced) needs to be thrown out and my opinions need to be changed because....well, because you say so. In which case, exactly who is being intolerant here? Me, with a life of experience and a society and culture based on heterosexuality? Or you, with a need to change society because it makes you afraid and angry?
Hmm. Afraid and angry. Wasn't that your original question?
You have quoted a source that comes from a primarily religious organization that is against evolution and also anti-gay.
This is a common technique used by anti-semitic "Holocaust Deniers." You quote a wild crazy article that has no stature whatsoever with the mainstream world wide scientific community.
I would be more impressed if you cited studies by The American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Sociological Association, the American Anthropological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Federation of Teachers, National Association of Social Workers, the National Education Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, etc. and over 200 other organizations of national stature. But someone trying to justify discrimination against the L/G/B/T community or prejudice against this community would not find support from these organizations ... so they have to fabricate their own findings and conclusions that are based on agreeing with their own views.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Yeah I've noticed people whip labels like 'homophobia', 'racism', 'sexism' out without even thinking. If you say you find homosexual behaviour disgusting you must be an intolerant, bigoted hate-monger. If you make one joke about Black people or Asians you are a neo-Nazi racist. It's almost a witch-hunt against the forces of intolerance, a backlash.
Intolerance is ugly...but the backlash isn't pretty either (or should it be? ).
Yeah I've noticed people whip labels like 'homophobia', 'racism', 'sexism' out without even thinking. If you say you find homosexual behaviour disgusting you must be an intolerant, bigoted hate-monger. If you make one joke about Black people or Asians you are a neo-Nazi racist. It's almost a witch-hunt against the forces of intolerance, a backlash.
Intolerance is ugly...but the backlash isn't pretty either (or should it be? ).
Oh, c'mon. Stop being such a DRAMA QUEEN.
There are people expressing disagreements about gay rights, same sex marriage, gays in the military, etc. all the time and they are not being persecuted. Locally there is a Christian radio station that denounces homosexuality every day of the year. Who cares? It's their constitutional right to express those views.
It sounds to me like you're peeved when someone's disagrees with your views ... as if others don't have a right to refute or even ridicule the views that have been voiced and they find offensive.
So, the bottom line is, articulate your opinions but be prepared for a response because someone is not only going to disagree with those views but might be offended by them.
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