Is homophobia becoming more subtle, more indirect, more cunning, more high-brow, in your felt experience?

Question

Is indirect homophobia more insidious that overt outbursts of homophobic hate crimes?

Answer 1

It is with homophobia as it is with racism.

Racism used to be overt and in-your-face: "no coloreds," "Whites only," etc. The Brown decision and civil rights legislation helped to do away with official segregation and, over time, explicitly racist remarks and sentiments became a hallmark of the uncouth and the ignorant.

Even so, we are a far cry from full racial equality. Today's racism (also called modern, implicit, or symbolic racism) is much less visible, but it's there if you know where to look.

You can see it in the actions of a woman who clutches her handbag tighter when a young African American male walks by, although she would be unlikely to consider herself racist. (She'd probably say something like, "I have plenty of Black friends!") Her fear is an unconscious one, motivated by stereotypes and night after night of news stories about the latest criminal exploits of "an unidentified Black male."

Similarly, you have people who think affirmative action is "reverse discrimination." You have people who think minorities are looking for "special rights." You have people who can watch Rodney King being beat to hell and back by a posse of police officers but acquit them of brutality charges anyway.

I believe that there will come a day when in-your-face homophobia becomes unacceptable, and anyone who issues a gay slur will be met with the same mortification as if they had just said the "N-word." It some places, it has already become taboo.

And, as with racism, I predict the next challenge will be overcoming the more subtle form of sexual prejudice: heterosexism. You already find this among people who "have plenty of gay friends" and "nothing against gay people" and yet believe the only "right" way to raise children is to have both a mother and a father, or that the only "legitimate" marriage involves two members of each gender.

Answer 2

Isn't the word "homophobia" over used and exaggerated? After all phobia is a irrational fear of something. This isn't true. People just don't agree that the gay lifestyle is a good or healthy choice to live ones life.

Isn't any "indirect" action the result of direct threats of being sued or arrested or losing a job because of actions by the gay community? I think so.

Answer 3

yes ... people like indirect homophobia because it means they have an excuse. Most likly they will say they were misinterperated ... and try to get away with it

Answer 4

I don't know what to say. I do know that it seems to be a perfectly acceptable thing in the mainstream that 'gay' is the new curse word.