How Has Homophobia Become a Witch Hunt? Essay

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.

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.

How could you be so scared of a person that has no interest in hurting you? What if that person is your family or your best friend? Would you still be terrified of them because they like the same sex? In his article, “Homophobia Hurts Everyone”, Warren J. Blumfeld (1992) brings to light the issues that homophobia cause in everyone’s lives. The people who are homophobic continue to blindly perpetuate fictional stereotypes, while real people are hurt by the hatred. Not only does homophobia hurt the LGBT population, but it also hurts those that are close to them. What about the siblings or the parents of someone that is suffering from the hatred that comes from homophobia? Not only do they see the pain that their sibling or child is going through, but they also are ridiculed themselves. For siblings, it can put them in difficult situation. Do they stand up for their sibling or do they have friends and avoid the ridicule are well? It is a tough question to ask a child. Also,

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

Should we avoid them, ignore, express our anger and disgust? Unfortunately, many people feel that way because they have a remote idea about people of different sexual orientation. For them homosexuality is perversion, abnormality or decease. The ignorance may foster fear, which in its turn leads to hostility. Homophobia is dangerous, because it affects all groups of people – heterosexuals and homosexuals, grown-ups and children, men and women. It may lead to violence and even death. There are numerous cases when people were actually killed because of homophobia. To name few of them – Matthew Shepard(homosexual), John Braun (heterosexual), Steve Kennedy (homosexual) and the list can be continued. As Jeffrey Nickel puts it, "[p]rejudice against homosexuality sharply limits how all men and women may acceptably behave, among themselves and with each other"( 529). It is obvious that we can no longer pretend that the homosexual issue is none of our concern. In attempt to evaluate our attitude towards people of different sexual orientation we will be able to understand them better. What is more important, we may overcome our prejudice, which often results in discrimination of one group against another. To acknowledge that there are people who are different and learn to tolerate them means to live in a safer world. The next question is: Do we have the right to discriminate against homosexuals? Until recently

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

There are two main reasons why many religious groups are against same-sex marriage. The first argument is that people who are gay are not able to procreate. They do not have the correct corresponding body parts to make children (Waldman, 2003). Anyone who has taken sex education knows that humans can not reproduce without a male’s sperm and a female’s egg. Roman Catholics believe God created marriage as a lifetime union between one woman and one man with the purpose of having a loving relationship and for procreating, caring for, and teaching children (Charron & Skylstad, 1996). Sex that does not occur with the intent of procreation is not approved by many faiths. In Judaism, for example, there is an important Bible passage that supports this idea. The story of Onan is about Onan sleeping with his dead brother’s wife. In order to prevent having children, Onan does not ejaculate inside of his brother’s wife. Instead he ejaculated on the ground. Because

The biggest problem the gay population faces regarding legal marriage is the Christians. A true Christian doesn't want a married gay couple to have the same title as he and his wife have, because they take the vowel under god seriously. A firm believer would say that a gay marriage is absurd. Homosexuality goes against nature because we were given sexual organs for the purpose of reproduction, not for pleasure. It is believed that homosexuals will be forsaken for committing

I learned that gay oppression stems from capitalistic ideas and nature. When the industrial revolution came around in the early 19th century it brought with it the traditional ideals of family that we know today (Carlin, 2007). Capitalists didn’t like the ideal of homosexuality because it defeated the purpose of sex only being for reproduction (Carlin, 2007). They thought that gays were getting in the way of producing the next generation of workers (Carlin, 2007). They quickly deemed them unnatural in the eyes of the Christian church and society (Carlin, 2007). Gays were routinely harassed and physically assaulted by police (Carlin, 2007). Capitalists tried to justify this oppression by saying that homosexuality was blatantly abnormal and unacceptable

I myself am heterosexual but don’t have any qualms with anyone else’s preferences; nonetheless, I take responsibility for the comfortableness of my fellow humans. I am disappointed in the hate that is fed through people’s actions. It’s even more disheartening that groups are made to

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

Hate Crimes: crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or religion(Federal officials, 2011). Hate crimes have been around for centuries. A hate crime is considered any malicious crime that is derived from hatred towards a certain group of people. African Americans are still victim to hate crimes, even after the Civil Rights movement. James Byrd Jr. suffered a prime example of a gruesome hate crime in 1998, because of his African American descent. Three white men, allegedly, chained Byrd to the back of a pickup truck and dragged him down a gravel road, leaving his body parts severed and bloody (Marty,1998). Recently, a new group of people has been targeted by the hateful view

People's minds, once they are made, are extremely difficult to change. Many people are set in their beliefs, and a common belief is that gays are evil. The Bible may say that homosexual relations are wrong, but never once is it preached in the holy book to hate another person. Many homophobes have never even known a gay person, and most if not all have never had a gay friend. Therefor, there entire hatred for gays is based on the grounds of hearsay and whatever society has to offer.

Most homophobism stems from people not understanding what it means to be queer. “An estimated 3.5% of adults in the United States identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, and an estimated 0.3% of adults are transgender”(Gates 1). Since so few people identify themselves under one of those categories, not many people understand what it means. Someone who is a lesbian is a girl attracted to a

A major reason for the fear and objection towards homosexuality is organized religion. Whether we notice it or not, we as humans follow many everyday concepts from the Bible. Examples would be, to not steal, murder, or commit adultery in marriage. The Bible also states that homosexuality is unethical and should be avoided as other sins. These are all great to follow, if you conform to the rules of the Bible. Religious back up should not be used in order to deem something wrong or unethical. It is essential to understand, to deem homosexuality ethical or not, rational decision-making must occur. One must analyze the pros and cons; if the pros outweigh the cons, homosexuality is ethical, and visa versa. One who explicitly follows an organized religion must follow the rules of a higher power (God). Getting rid of this obstacle will leave room for autonomous decisions on homosexuality, and eventually its place in good ethics.