Homophobia. A word that has been thrown around for a while, and yet there is no exact meaning for it. According to Wikipedia, an average website used or seen by many people, “homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT).”, and yet to Merriam-Webster, a highly accredited online dictionary website, homophobia is the “irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals.” There are many definitions and perceptions of homophobia, all varying by mind set and cultural stances. In “Why Can’t We Talk About Homophobia in the Black Community,” by Daniel Reynolds, Reynolds talks …show more content…
In, “Homophobia Is Rampant in Professional Sports,” Ford speaks about how in male dominated sports coaches or other team players have tendencies to shame athletes by calling them names such as “sissies” or “girls” (paragraph 1). Ford later talks the causes of homophobia being hyper masculinity and the humiliation that players were put though as children and teenagers in school teams to get short term gains (paragraph 14). The author also states that someone in a professional team could come out on a major team and survive, if they have the team support (paragraph 16). 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.’”
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.
Before we can address the issue of homophobia. We must distinguish what exactly homophobia is, Homophobia is a term to describe hate towards homosexually oriented people. Homophobia is a form of stigma based on sexual ideas. This is also explained in the book “The Challenges of being a gay rural gay man, coping with stigma”. It states “sexual stigma is defined as social disapproval of any-non-heterosexual behavior”. Stigma that is based on hate towards people that are different, or people we don’t understand.
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
Regrettably, in the US there are a lot more problems than homophobia. One of the ongoing problems in the US (that has been an issue forever) is racism. Yes, racism is still an issue, and now thanks to social media, it continues to be a trending topic. An example is this summer there were riots in Charlottesville that ended with death. (SAYERS) “One person was killed and 19 were hurt when a speeding car slammed into a throng of counter protesters in Charlottesville, where a "Unite the Right" rally of where white nationalists
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
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,
Homophobia is defined as negative attitudes and feelings that people feel towards individuals who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered. These negative thoughts and feelings often lead to acts of bullying, harassment, victimization and even violence.
In, “Heterosexism and homophobia among college students,” Larry M. Lance starts off by explaining the difference between heterosexism and homophobia. Heterosexism is thinking that everyone should be attracted to the opposite sex and homophobia is having an irrational fear of gay men and lesbians. He mentions that efforts have been made to reduce heterosexism on campuses by encouraging homosexuals to be proud of who they are and not hide. However, with homophobia, he states that these negative attitudes are seen more in heterosexual males than heterosexual females. Heterosexual males could have more homophobic views on lesbians and gay men because of their exotic value even though they seem to be less homophobic towards lesbians. Lance
Homophobia is everywhere. On every corner, and in every crevice. Those churches on your street are breeding hate, infecting people with bigotry. People walk into voting booths,
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.
Shame Shame, Know Your Name In “What I Learned In The Locker Room,” by Steve Almond, it is clearly stated that he believes that the athletic world is a place for men to appear hyper-masculine and to also hide what most would consider to be feminine characteristics. The author interestingly uses a personal story about meeting a transgender sports reporter while working as an intern for a local newspaper, and how this was such an anomaly in both the era and industry. Almond admits that throughout his life he has felt that being a fan of sports has protected him from his underlying fear that he wasn’t masculine enough to measure up to his preconceived ideas of what a man should be. In the article, Almond does successfully understand and explain how sports represent one way of seeing the world.
According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, homophobia is the irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals. Much like a witch hunt, homophobia targets and seeks out individuals, gay or straight, and persecutes them based on ignorance, and further more if one cannot provide solid proof of his or her innocence. (Hughes) It is the fuel behind many hate crimes and discrimination. Some claim that homosexuality is a disease. If this statement is true, couldn’t we all simply begin to call in “queer” to work and school when we won’t be present? (Avert)
Brian Whitaker, in his paper ‘Unspeakable Love: Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East’, argues that homophobia in Arab Muslim countries “is not a religious or a cultural issue, but is foremost a political problem of which culture and religion are reliant factors”, arguing that Homophobia in the Muslim world can be attributed to the attitude this world has to its counterpart, the modern secular European and Western
Religion is a major aspect on why society believes that homosexuality is wrong and should not be accepted. Individuals who are against the LGBT (Lesbian,
Internalized homophobia is a sense of personal failures in self –hatred among some lesbians and gay men due to social rejection and stigmatization (Knox, Moody, and Schacht 6-4 Glossary). Homophobia is not necessarily a clinical phobia (i.e. one involving that refers to negative attitudes and emotion a compelling desire to avoid the feared object despite recognizing that the fear is unreasonable). Another term that refers to negative attitudes and emotion toward homosexuality includes homonegativity and antigay bias (Knox, Moody, and Schacht 440)