Every so often, the country debates sexual orientation discrimination, same-sex marriages and the like. In 1971, psychologist George Weinberg coined the term ‘homophobia.’ He used the Greek words ‘homo’ for ‘same,’ and ‘phobia,’ meaning ‘fear.’ Therefore, humans who suffer homophobia are ‘afraid of the same.’ Though most individuals will agree ‘homo’ means ‘man’ in Latin, the term does not justify a basis of society’s unwillingness to change conservative views in regards to homosexuality.
In reality, how many heterosexual individuals actually use the excuse, “Well, I’m homophobic so I’m not going to that bar,” or, “I don’t want people to think I’m gay?” Without a doubt, mature audiences may second guess such a statement for pure humor and move on. On more serious terms, does homophobia actually exist in society?
The existence of escalated homophobia was sparked in the early 1980s and concerned the rise of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. Frequently-used terms such as ‘the gay plague’ and ‘gay cancer’ infiltrated the minds of the country via the media. In the early stages of the disease, the public was not aware how it was transmitted. However, mainstream society did know that the condition predominantly existed within homosexual groups. As thousands of citizens died mysteriously from this unknown virus, demonstrations, work discrimination and rallies against AIDS victims of all sexual orientations strengthened fear among individuals. President Reagan ignored the disease and did not encourage research. Most importantly, he failed to soothe a panicked nation or support AIDS education in schools. Was this because of something else other than the fear of AIDS? Why was President Reagan so insistent on silence? As a Republican, could his religious views have prohibited a speech to stop the prejudice?
Conservative principles inhibit the acceptance of homosexuality. Such values freeze humans into sexual orientation discrimination within the workplace, school and social encounters. The rejection of lesbians and gays follows a strict moral conduct put in place by a religious figure or an interpretation of scripture.
The Dalai Lama had an instance in which he publicly rejected a same-sex couple for a blessing. Keep in mind, an aspect of religious code is used to filter the elite from the weak, as well as to provide a blueprint of the ‘right way’ to live. The spiritual systems have discriminatory aspects set in stone by tradition. Therefore, society cannot condemn any religion for the indecency to recognize gays and lesbians. Due to rules, homophobia does not exist in terms of religion or moral values. Furthermore, the country must respect their conservative views.
Constitutionally speaking, our government is not affiliated with a national religion. The system is in place to protect the civil liberties of each living human. Homophobia does not exist in the government; however, the failure to uphold human rights unfortunately presents itself in regards to minority groups. Gays and lesbians are a rising minority group in the United States. They are humans with a distinct characteristic, just like ethnic and religious minority groups. Certain heterosexuals refuse to accept the differences within the community through discrimination.
Homophobia is a preference in which heterosexual humans label their prejudice as ignorance or a handicap. Homophobic people are uneducated beings in regards to the subject. The fear behind hatred exists only to the extent in which the lifestyles of lesbians and gays are only known to the public through stereotypes.
Homophobia exists within gay and lesbian groups due to the fact that mainstream society continues to classify these lives as sinful and immoral. ‘Coming out,’ or the declaration of being gay or lesbian, is a common fear within the minority group. Additionally, homosexuals may fear to distinguish themselves as such, due to the fact that they may be denied certain health care treatment, jobs and the like.
In all, homophobia exists in some heterosexual groups. Homophobia is merely ignorance, an under-education of a homosexual lifestyle and an unwillingness to accept differences in a community. Discrimination to the minority is not caused by homophobia; rather it is caused by hate. Homophobia exists for the homosexual community that experiences psychological and physical harm from hate crimes, rejection and discrimination.