Chapter 3 Homophobia Now

In the article, How Homophobia Hurts Everyone by Warren J. Blumenfeld, Blumenfeld describes his experience growing up as a homosexual, and how homophobia affected him, as well as his family and peers. To begin, homophobia can be separated into two different catergories, personal homophobia and interpersonal homophobia. Personal homophobia can be described as a personal belief system, or prejudice that homosexuals, bisexual and transgender people are entitled to, should be disliked or remain powerless, due to their desires. They are also sometimes seen as psychologically disturbed, genetically modified or defective and overall, unfortunate human beings. While on the other hand, interpersonal homophobia refers to the personal prejudice or bias that affects relationships within individuals. An example of interpersonal homophobia could be making a joke, name calling, or insulting certain individuals or groups. This can be either verbal, physical or intimidation related.

Based on the discussion from the Williams Institute, it is evident that there continues to be a prevalence of discrimination among groups that are not viewed as culturally acceptable in our county. In this article, it is reported that people are more likely to experience hate crimes based on their sexual orientations. For instance, 44% of people reported experience physical violence (without a weapon) because of their sexual orientation, and 80% had been verbally harassed (Herek, 2009). Although the Hates Crimes Statistic Law became effective in 1990, the stigma surrounding the LGBTQ community continues to affect their everyday life. It may defer a person by identified their sexual orientation for the fear of being discriminating in the workplace,

Then there is the interpersonal level. This level is letting prejudice (personal bias) manifest into discrimination. Then the institutional level, which is “the government, businesses, and educational, religious, and professional organizations systematically discriminating on the basis of sexual identity” (Blumenfeld 381). Blumenfeld uses the fact that homosexuality was considered a disorder up until 1973, as an example of homophobia on the institutional level. Lastly, homophobia works on a cultural level through the “social norms or codes that … [are put in place] within a society to legitimize oppression” (Blumenfeld 382).

2. What is homophobia? - The term homophobia translates to fear of homosexuality. This fear can manifest in many forms; it can include violence, harassment, exclusion, or discomfort.

Homophobia includes discrimination or abuse, which is based on someone’s homosexuality or sexual orientation. This can negatively impact the emotional and physical wellbeing of people who are victimised. There are three main types of homophobia that are known as the three I’s, which are internalised, interpersonal and institutional. Internalised homophobia is the fear or hatred of homosexuality that exists in ones own mind, such as making a determined effort to dress or

Internalized heterosexism — also referred to as internalized homophobia — is the internalization of negative attitudes and suppositions concerning same-sex sexuality and LGBQ individuals. It is worth noting that the term homophobia has been criticized as it does not necessarily constitute and irrational fear, and it denotes an individual pathology rather than a systemic issue (Herek, 2004) Sexual prejudice has been suggested as a more suitable framing of hostility towards LGBTQ peoples, as it roots the issue in systems and culture, and links it to research on prejudice (Herek, 2004). The sociocultural environment of the individual promotes internalized heterosexism, and, self-esteem was not found to be a significant predictor of Internalized heterosexism (Szymanski & Gupta, 2009). Higher rates of psychological distress found among LGBQ populations, than heterosexuals, may be related to exposure to heterosexist attitudes and behaviors (Meyer, 2003); as well as, heterosexist attitudes they have internalized (Herek, 2004; Sophie,

Homophobia is the concept in which people are hateful or fearful towards lesbians and gays (Dictionary.com, 2014). Fear and revulsion of the LGBT population commonly emanate from religious concepts or traditional ideas of society. In 2011, 18% of hate crimes based upon sexual orientation were reported, however, the number proved to be higher than expected due to the fact that many more individuals are reporting these crimes to the authorities (Northhumberland View, 2013). This further demonstrates the progression of LGBT rights in Canadian society due to the fact that lesbian, gay and transgender individuals alike feel comfortable enough to report these matters to the police and receive justice rather than allowing the issue to go unnoticed out of fear of being judged. Also, though many laws have been implemented to prevent discrimination, it is a reality in which many members of the LGBT community still face today. In terms of bullying, 25% of homosexual adolescents reported being physically harassed by heterosexual peers in 2009 (CBC, 2010). However, in 2002 approximately one third of homosexual students were harassed based upon their sexuality (Riese, 2014). Although discrimination and bullying based upon sexual orientation is prevalent in today's society, Canadians have become more accustomed to the idea of homosexuality which is reflected through the decrease in the amount of harassment that occurs. However, with adequate education and continuous learning about the matter, discrimination based upon sexuality can be virtually eliminated in the

Homophobia is the irrational fear and misunderstanding of people who identify themselves as part of the LGBT community. Along with homophobia can come irrational and heinous acts of hatred, to instill fear and panic amongst LGBT members. This irrational fear and misunderstandings leads to the first cause of homophobia: Religion. Religion plays a key role in black communities. According to blackdemographics.com, “87% of Blacks (vs. 83% of all Americans) are affiliated with a religion. It also found that 79 % of Blacks (vs. 56% overall) say that religion is ‘very important in their life.’”

“Homophobia is an extreme or irrational aversion to homosexuals.” (Little 2017) Homophobia can be best described ad fear and hatred of homosexuality and homosexuals. This is a belief in traditional gender roles. This also includes attitudes and behavioral patterns that people have against the homosexuals.

Nonetheless I decided to narrow it down and pay my focus to homosexuals. My decision is based on the evidences showing the percentage of homosexual minorities being a victims of hate crime. These statistics are dramatic. In the United States, racial hate is the most common motive for hate crimes. People still are not aware how important is that issue and in general they are not aware what is the hate crime and that they might be a victim of that particular

As mentioned in the Oxford Dictionary homophobia is defined as, dislike of, or prejudice against homosexual people. Homophobia is prevalent within the African American community owing to the fact that, the Black church has stigmatized homosexuality in a negative connotation. Indulging in the same sex does not perceive you to be anomalous, it is the interest towards the same sex, it should no longer be a topic of discussion. The Advocate journalist

Sexual orientation is “the clear, persistent desire of a person for affiliation with one sex rather than the other”, otherwise known as sexual preference. (http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com) Prejudice against lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transsexuals (otherwise known as LGBT people) remain widespread in American society. LGBT people have always been a target for discrimination. Like other forms of prejudice, this discrimination is based on a hostile attitude toward a specific group and in this case minority. The current strides in the controversy of the legalization of the same sex marriage is a prime example of this discrimination. Sexual orientation prejudice

Jacob Peterson Professor Jennifer Tynes Writing 150-62 6 March, 2017 On the Road to Ending Homophobia Homosexual. A word many of us don’ t think much of. Homosexual by definition is, sexually attracted to members of one’ s own sex (Dictionary.com). In contrast to homosexual, homophobia by definition means, unreasoning fear of or antipathy toward homosexuals and homosexuality (Dictionary.com). Homophobia is decreasing, but at a very slow rate, and is still held by a large sum of people, whether it be implicitly or overt. Though it may not be as overt as when the Ancient Greeks didn’ t even have a word for homosexual (syndicate.com). Homophobia is still very much alive and well. First, homophobia has been around and

The term homophobia was first used in the late 1960’s by psychologist George Weinberg to “label heterosexuals ' dread of being in close quarters with homosexuals as well as homosexuals ' self loathing” (Herek, 2012, para. 2). Homophobia in itself is not always detrimental, but is usually a tool that fuels discrimination and victimization.

Homophobia is the fear or hatred of homosexuals and homosexuality and is a trait that, according to Olga Khazan, over half of Russian citizens possess. It can be expressed in many different negative ways but it almost always results in harm to LGBT people. Homophobia has become a huge issue in Russia and in 2013 there were 25 hate crimes 2 of which resulted in murder (Spotlight on Russian Homophobia on Eve of Sochi Olympics). Homophobia in Russia has become so extreme that LGBT people can no longer feel safe in their own country. In Russia LGBT people face hate crimes and unjust laws. This has been going on for a long time but the problem has become much mere severe in the last 20 years. The intense and widespread homophobia in Russia is due to the effects of past Russian communism, The Russian Orthodox Church, and the Russian governments homophobic leaders.