I think the word "homophobia" legitimizes narrow minded bigotry in a way.

[Tyler Durden]

I have two legitimate phobia: Thanatophobia (morbid fear of death or dying) and Myctophobia (Fear of darkness).

These are legitimate phobia; I take medication which keeps me from having anxiety attacks in the middle of the night complete with tachycardia, panic and vomiting in the nearest wastebasket (this disturbs Deb and the dogs. And me.)

So why do we let gay-hating bigoted mouthbreathing assholes hide behind a psychological pathology? Do Homosexuals induce paralyzing fear and panic, like putting a spider on a person with Arachnophobia? Or is it a "God says it's EVIL!!" or "I just think it's ICKY!!" If that's the case, then why allow all of these bigots this out?

"Hey, I can't be around gay people! I have HOMOPHOBIA!!!"

I realize that's the common nomenclature for these idiots, but let's call a spade a spade (From the game of bridge). These fools deserve no slack or understanding. Would we give all the jackoffs who hate Blacks or Hispanics the comfort of allowing their bigotry under "Xenophobia?" Utterly absurd.

Legitimate phobia are accompanied by panic and strong anxiety: ask me, I know. So if a GLBT person stands next to a bigot and they don't collapse in a shivering lump, guess what? The do not have a legitimate PHOBIA.

They're just stinking bigoted yahoos. And that is what I'd love to see: every time you see someone practicing their "homophobia," say to them "HEY I have GREAT NEWS for you!!! You aren't HOMOPHOBIC! You're just a stinking bigoted YAHOO!! Isn't that GREAT????"

And don't forget to give 'em a big hug and kiss.

[xchrom]

1. they're not too paralyzed when they bash someone's head in with a ball bat. nt

[Tyler Durden]

4. Then we should be GLAD they are not mentally ill.

They're just brutal disgusting bigoted YAHOOS.

I realize they are filthy assholes, but I guess we can't kneecap them ALL. SOMEONE has to clean gas station restrooms.

[xchrom]

13. i might excuse that mental illness notion in the fifties -- might.

but i don't permit that notion in 2008 any more than say i would for for someone who 'profoundly'
thinks the world is flat in 2008 -- or keeps their children from the doctor.

[SteppingRazor]

2. I agree with you to some extent, but...

since terms like homophobia and xenophobia aren't generally used by bigots to justify their behavior so much as they are used by others to define the behavior of the bigots, I don't think it's as big a deal as it could be.

[Tyler Durden]

5. Oh it's not a big deal, really. I just like making fun of Bigots.

Assholes and knuckledraggers, one and all.

[SteppingRazor]

6. Yeah. And they smell bad too, but don't you judge me! I suffer from Bigotophobia!

:P

[Orrex]

3. I think that they're relying on the normalized, pop-psychology definition of a phobia

In which one simply has an irrational fear of something. Of course, they don't think that it's an irrational fear, but that's another matter.

I have little direct experience with truly phobic people, though years ago I worked with a woman who was rat-phobic (whatever the term). She once walked into a storeroom and saw four or five rats on a shelf, and she became nearly catatonic: unresponsive, immobile, etc. She was simply fixated and unable to look away from them. It was amazing to see, and educational, since I'd never understood the severity of a phobia.

[Tyler Durden]

7. murophobia: fear of mice and rats.

I rather like rats m'self. Clean, soft, smart. One of the only creatures other than Humans that actually LAUGHS.

[Orrex]

10. Well, that just tells us that they're in on the joke

Small consolation to Cheryl, I suspect, but that's pretty cool.

[patrice]

8. Thanks for pointing this out; I will not use the term anymore.

Also: On the principle of defining anything as an "illness", and at the risk of being flamed to death, I think it's a tactical mistake to insist that Homosexuality is the effect of somesort of aberation in one's genetic code. Some is; some is not, but statistically MOST would be the result of a combination of biological with other factors. But all of that is beside the point to me. If we're talking freely consenting adults, what one CHOOSES to do in the privacy of one's own life is none of our business and I don't like putting an entire group of people in the category of being somehow damaged and I should think that they would not want to be viewed as victims in that particular way, because it removes the focus from (and let's folks off the hook for) how they ACTUALLY ARE victims.

[Tyler Durden]

9. One of the reasons I always loved GLBT as terminology.

Gay? A happy word.
Lesbian? Descriptive. A little neutral, but if you don't mind it...
Bisexual? Kind of in the same taxonomy as Lesbian, but again if it's not offensive...
Transexual? We REALLY have to work on that one.

I've always felt that genetic differences are not defects unless truly pathological and causing a form of a disease process or physical defect with unpleasant repercussions for the "victim."

Life is a bell curve, and I'm comfortable with where I fit. Others should be so lucky!

[patrice]

11. Yes, indeed, on the principle that "Different is not Deficient" those genetic

differences are not pathological.

I was referring to how conventional intelligence quite likely perceives those genetic differences.

[Tyler Durden]

15. As it says in the Q'ran, Ar-Rum 30:22

Ar-Rum (The Romans)

30:22 And among his wonders is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the diversity of your tongues and colors: for in this, behold, there are messages indeed for all who are possessed of knowledge!

Diversity is Life's way of preserving itself. Without Diversity, we all would be destroyed by the first successful plague, or a natural disaster.

[patrice]

16. Homosexuality as a possible adaptation in response to all of the STRESS

produced by testosterone "poisoning"?

Some of my environmental friends and I were saying that back in the early '90s, partly to just tease the macho types in our little grassroots action group, partly because we were hypothesizing about the nature of Gaia.

It would be stupid to say that there are no "meta-" factors at work, but talking about them is difficult, because inference does not result in logically necessary "conclusions".

[Tyler Durden]

12. SHIT! this thread is on GOOGLE already!!!

I called up "fear of bigots phobia" to see if there was one, and second hit was this thread.

I think I'm developing "GOOGLEPHOBIA!!!"

[Creideiki]

14. Let me describe "White Knuckle Syndrome"

One of the things that several of my gay friends and I noticed as we'd walk around Chicago's northside Lakeview neighborhood, we started calling "White Knuckle Syndrome".

The basic history of the area is that even as recently as the mid-80s, no one wanted to go there--my father refused to park his vehicle east of Clark during Cubs games because of a near certainty that when you went back to get the vehicle after the game, you would be likely to find no hubcaps, windows bashed in, or no car. Then the gay community, having gotten priced out of the Loop and Gold Coast and most recently Lincoln Park, started to move into the area. The general process works like this: gay people who can't afford the pricier neighborhoods move in, then they start renovating the area, and are publicly visible, so that policing becomes easier. Eventually, the gay people that are making significantly less than their straight coworkers have a nice little neighborhood that has gone through "urban renewal". (Logo's "Real Momentum" series had an episode on this a while ago.)Then the straight people that can't afford the extremely overpriced Gold Coast and Lincoln Park neighborhoods moved into Lakeview. It's a safe neighborhood, getting pricier, just right for the yuppy set. The only problem is that it's filled with gay people.

The easiest way to tell when a guy on the street is gay or straight is to look at his knuckles. If he's walking with a woman but has her hand clutched in a death-grip that threatens to break every bone in her hands, he's straight. If another guy looks his way, his pace picks up and a look of pain appears on the woman's face as he tightens the grip and the white knuckles appear. Gay people will walk with woman friends. They'll even occasionally hold hands with them. But the fear and anxiety induced white knuckles are a sure sign that someone is homophobic. Now, not all the straight people there are phobic. Some are great people. They have gay neighbors and friends in the neighborhood and will hang out and even occasionally go to the gay bars (we have actual dance floors). They like the diverse environment and will even politely smile and brush off advances with, "Thanks, but I've got a girlfriend." But for a sizeable proportion, there's the anxiety and panic that drives them past garden-variety bigotry.

It does get hard to tell, though. I agree random off-the-cuff comments are a sign of bigotry. That doesn't justify the bigotry--it's an increasingly smaller world, and we've all got to figure out how to live together. A big part of that is not making random "pansy" comments. Right now, I hope someone is taking, say, a certain governor of North Carolina, aside and explaining that to him.

[Behind the Aegis]

17. Phobias

Phobias do not have to be paralyzing, nor panic inducing. The definition of phobia also includes a strong dislike or aversion to something. You are thinking more in the lines of phobic disorders. While there are few who really are "panic-stricken" by gays, the majority of homophobes are simply those who harbor a strong, often irrational, aversion/dislike for gays and lesbians. That is more indicative of the sociological use to the suffix -phobia (xenophobia is another such "phobia"), as opposed to your phobias, which are psychological (similar to agoraphobia).

[Tyler Durden]

18. I still say it's only bigotry.

And I don't give bigots a break.

[Behind the Aegis]

19. You can say what you want.

But I don't think by properly explaining the differences is giving bigots a break.

[Tyler Durden]

20. Oh I really don't mind too much.

It's just that with a "HOMOPHOBIA DEFENSE" one of these pigs might get off or get a reduced sentence in a case of a Hate Crime. That's my only REAL gripe.

[Behind the Aegis]

21. That's a legitimate concern.

As someone who worked with stats on hate crimes and trials and such, I can tell you the "homosexual panic" defense was very common. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to use it as a legitimate defense. Most lawyers won't even entertain it as a possible defense, except in rare cases. I think the Southern Poverty Law Center did a study about the 'homosexual panic' defense a few years back and explained who it is decreasing in value. I could be wrong, when i get home from work, I will see if I can find that study.

[galledgoblin]

22. I use the term "homomisia" sometimes

hatred of homosexuality instead of fear of homosexuality.

[Tyler Durden]

23. What an apropriate word.

Much more descriptive of their actual state of mind.