HOME | DD

Description
Although you could call homophobic actions as having been piloted by the irrational fear of different people, homophobia is not a irrational fear. It is irrational hatred. It is hatred of LGBT persons.

“BUT BUT BUT A PHOBIA IS—”

Shut up.

Words like homophobia, queerphobia, fatphobia, transphobia, xenophobia, and even heterophobia*, are and were formed to mean “hatred of” and “to be against”. This is what they have meant and will always mean.

While mostly colloquial, it is a legitimate means of using -phobia. -phobia is not always used to mean irrational fear. For example, photophobia is sensitivity to light. -phobia as a suffix is generalized as strong (often unusual) aversion, not just irrational fear. While a phobia is a mental medical condition of irrational fear, -phobia does not always indicate a phobia. Homophobia is not a legitimate medical condition.

And if we are to focus on how the word is formed, doesn’t “homophobia” actually mean “fear of the same,” not homosexuals?

Isn’t it funny that we complain about the so-called “improper use of -phobia” but commonly and frequently commit other crimes against English? “Ain’t” is not grammatically correct. You shouldn’t end a sentence with a preposition. Literally is not a word for emphasis, but is a word to describe an actual fact. A sentence should have a subject and a predicate. These are common crimes with legitimate linguistical basis. “Misuse of -phobia” is not, yet gets the focus. Why is this?

It’s because attempts to redefine homophobia as a medical condition are done for the sole purpose of delegitimizing queer experiences with hatred and violence, and downplaying the impact homophobia has on the queer community and society as a whole. It is attempting to take away the fire under society to make a change and to save people’s lives and rights. It’s also attempting to put perpetrators of homophobia in the “victim” spotlight, and those against them as the “real perpetrators”. The ones usually to commit this crime are those who fit the bill for homophobia and/or are not queer.

Additionally, non-queer persons do not get to be the ones to define and categorize queer experiences. It is not their place, and attempts to do so are, in fact, homophobic/queerphobic in nature.

(*This is not to imply that heterophobia is real/on the same level of homophobia. This is simply an example.)

Description
Although you could call homophobic actions as having been piloted by the irrational fear of different people, homophobia is not a irrational fear. It is irrational hatred. It is hatred of LGBT persons.

“BUT BUT BUT A PHOBIA IS—”

Shut up.

Words like homophobia, queerphobia, fatphobia, transphobia, xenophobia, and even heterophobia*, are and were formed to mean “hatred of” and “to be against”. This is what they have meant and will always mean.

While mostly colloquial, it is a legitimate means of using -phobia. -phobia is not always used to mean irrational fear. For example, photophobia is sensitivity to light. -phobia as a suffix is generalized as strong (often unusual) aversion, not just irrational fear. While a phobia is a mental medical condition of irrational fear, -phobia does not always indicate a phobia. Homophobia is not a legitimate medical condition.

And if we are to focus on how the word is formed, doesn’t “homophobia” actually mean “fear of the same,” not homosexuals?

Isn’t it funny that we complain about the so-called “improper use of -phobia” but commonly and frequently commit other crimes against English? “Ain’t” is not grammatically correct. You shouldn’t end a sentence with a preposition. Literally is not a word for emphasis, but is a word to describe an actual fact. A sentence should have a subject and a predicate. These are common crimes with legitimate linguistical basis. “Misuse of -phobia” is not, yet gets the focus. Why is this?

It’s because attempts to redefine homophobia as a medical condition are done for the sole purpose of delegitimizing queer experiences with hatred and violence, and downplaying the impact homophobia has on the queer community and society as a whole. It is attempting to take away the fire under society to make a change and to save people’s lives and rights. It’s also attempting to put perpetrators of homophobia in the “victim” spotlight, and those against them as the “real perpetrators”. The ones usually to commit this crime are those who fit the bill for homophobia and/or are not queer.

Additionally, non-queer persons do not get to be the ones to define and categorize queer experiences. It is not their place, and attempts to do so are, in fact, homophobic/queerphobic in nature.

(*This is not to imply that heterophobia is real/on the same level of homophobia. This is simply an example.)