has homophobia depleted in the last 20 years?

Question

after living in a city and a town where homophobia was rife........now i live in a small village and it is not....is it because age and tv have made people more tolerant in the past 20 years?

Answer 1

I don't think that homophobia has reduced in the last 20 years.

What has been noticeable is that during the late 1980's when Margaret Thatcher's government were campaigning against the LGBT community in such measures as section 28 of the local government act ("A local authority shall not promote homosexuality....") the LGBT community came together and opposed the government and made a point of rallying, lobbying, and defending itself as it perceived, quite accurately, that it was being attacked by the State. Over the last twenty years, as more tolerant legislation has been passed such as the repeal of section 28, passage of an equal age of consent, and the creation of civil partnerships (which are in themselves, a compromise) the LGBT community has lapsed in its resistance to the state and is less inclined to put on large Pride Marches and is instead more willing to accept Mardi Gras celebrations instead.

What's not changed is that LGBT community members continue to experience hate crimes. The deaths in the bombing of the Admiral Duncan and the injuries to both heterosexual and homosexual friends who were out drinking in Soho, or the murder of a gay barman recently in London, remind us that even in our most multi-cultural capital city there remain extremists, such as those who's religious convictions tolerate the perpetuation of hate crimes against Lesbians and Gay Men. The clear-up rate for murders of gay men remain lower than the clear-up rates for murder amongst the general population, as highlighted a few years ago by the Millivres group.

Homosexuality is the last taboo to be protected by the state. It is illegal to discriminate on many grounds, but the protection afforded members of the lesbian and gay community is less than afforded other members of society. In my opinion, had the government been serious about its intentions towards the LGBT community, then when it created civil partnerships, it would have created them for both heterosexual and homosexual couplings. After all, marriage has always been about bringing together properties, not people. Civil partnerships could have been the opportunity of creating a legal recognition of partnerships without the expense of a wedding by granting state recognition for the union of two people, irrespective of their gender. If the state had extended civil partnerships to both heterosexual and homosexual couples from the outset it would have (a) been granting equality to LGBT community members and (b) been correctly separating the roles of church and state. It missed the opportunity to do so and in so doing perpetuated the lesser treatment by the state of its lesbian and gay community members, and granted greater power to the religious right by protecting the institution of marriage.

We live in a multi-cultural society, and we are all enriched by the creation of communities containing many races, several religions and more than one sexual orientation. However, the segregation in education of differing religions through the introduction of 'faith schools', and the absence of equal protection under the law for lesbians and gay men, despite many and several successive government promises, suggests that twenty years ago lesbians and gay men enjoyed less than equal treatment by the state, and two decades on they continue to do so. In fact, the conditions for a worsening situation in future are currently being created and supported by the state through its endorsement of faith schools and their ability to teach hatred of LGBT community members on grounds of religious belief.

Answer 2

I do not think homophobia has depleted at all, in fact I think it has got worse over the past few years. It is portrayed as some thing that is disgusting, this is due to people not being able to understand why people are like this. Obviously some think they have spread the diseases we have today, but this is not so, some of the diseases we have today are our own doing not those of others.

TV has made it worse because programmes show that beating up, mugging, and murdering is the norm to those that are different to us.

Tolerance only come's from those who try to understand the problems these people have to put with.

This is only my opinion, but others may see it differently.

Answer 3

Because homosexuality has been connected to each household in some way, the population has slowly come to better understand the phenomenon. There is less "hype" and hyperbole about the subject, and I would say, that while homophobia is not exactly "nonexistent," it has, at least, ameliorated considerably since the 1950's.

Answer 4

I agree that over the last decade homophobia has been dramatically reduced. This is largely due to media exposure. This just goes to prove the power of the media over culture.

Answer 5

I agree that the media has made it more tolerant but I believe that are still people that are homophobia

Answer 6

Depleted???? Hmmmm.....I think time and pro-gay TV media exposure (there are a LOT of gay people in television--more than you'd expect) both are factors in creating a current state of public tolerance.

And they have accomplished their mission: we all know now that some men like to bed men and some women like to bed other women....and some men/women like to bed both sexes.....so what now? Silence. Can we now go onto some other survival matters of the human race.....like.....oh, I don't know......global warming, perhaps??????????

Answer 7

i don't think homophobia is the correct word they're using, thats a fear of homosexuals, I don't fear them at all. I am totally against their lifestyle choice and if a gay person asked me what I thought about their choices I would tell them straight up (pardon the pun) that God says its wrong, I don't agree with homosexuality.

Answer 8

I think a big help has been the lack of Gay Marches and demonstrations, we all got a little sick of having it rammed down our throats (no pun intended). Live & let live, just don't make it a political issue & keep it in the privacy of your own home, like hetros do.

Answer 9

I think it still exists but many people are becoming more tolerant. Older people are generally less able to accept it as it was illegal when many of then were younger.

Answer 10

Depleted? Like a resevoir? there's a fixed amount, and now it's all used up?
Oh, I get it. Diminished! Decreased!
Debateable.