Don’t Call Me a Homophobe

Posted on | December 4, 2005

Occasionally I like to read the Letters to the Editor that 365Gay.Com posts on Sundays just to see what people are saying and so forth. Today they posted one from a presumed homophobe named “BJ” from Oregon.In his letter BJ points out the error in using the word “homophobia” to describe anti-gay sentiment. Since any word ending in “phobia” refers to a fear, the semantic meaning of the word homophobia is the fear of homosexuality/homosexuals. This BJ person asserts that they and others like them have no fear of homosexuals but instead simply refuse to accept homosexuality as a “normal lifestyle” because it supposedly is an “abomination to God” and other such crap. I could go on for days about the religious bullshit, but that is not the point of this post. Because not matter what religious source BJ cites, in this case they cited the Jewish Torah, there are arguments as to what it actually means and therefore is not an truly authoritarian source so citing it is mere justification for their homophobic attitudes.

But while BJ is technically correct about the homophobia, this individual neglects to consider how language usage does not always match the rules of words. Also, he compares the word in relation to other phobias like agoraphobia and claustrophobia but this comparison is invalid. Agoraphobia and claustrophobia, the fear of open spaces and the fear of enclosed spaces respectively, are clinical definitions. Homophobia in a disordered sense would most likely be very rare since homophobia does not interfere with an individualâ€™s ability to function within society.

But more than that, it is actually quite an accurate descriptor. People defined as homophobes fear homosexuals gaining even footing. The current propaganda in regards to marriage equality is more than ample proof of that by using ideas like how a homosexual marriage will lead to the degradation of heterosexual marriage or to things like the mainstream acceptance of bestiality and incest.

Additionally, under psychoanalytic theory, one of the ways an individualâ€™s brain deals with things that are psychologically traumatic to the individual by reacting in the opposite manner. This particular defense mechanism is referred to as a Reaction Formation. Homophobia is theorized, and has some experimental data to back this up, to be a reaction formation to the individualâ€™s own homosexual feelings and desires that are overwhelming to them.

Something I find hysterically funny is the fact that the point of BJâ€™s letter is to complain about the word “homophobia” being wrongly applied to them yet goes ahead and wrongly applies the word “lifestyle” to homosexuals which is one of the ways homophobes and the like attempt to make homosexuality out to be some sort of choice.

Ultimately, the way I see it is that the words “homophobia” and “homophobe” are just blanket terms like racism and sexism anyway. I will drop the euphemism and refer to them as a religiously ignorant dumbfuck bigot instead. I have absolutely no problems with that.

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