Anti-Gay = Homophobia = Bigot

This is a little addendum to my last post. Most people get uncomfortable when someone throws around the term 'racist'. Of course when we think of racists we think of white power groups and the KKK. There are institutionalized forms of racism as well, sometimes institutionalized to the point where we commonly accept some things that truly discriminate against ethnic and racial minorities.

Imagine, then, how those same people react when we throw around the term 'homophobia'. Because there is material in the Bible and because many religious institutions have taken public positions on the subject of homosexuality, there seems to be some defense for those who are homophobic to act out on that belief or feeling. Many of those same religious excuses, though, were and still are used by white supremacy groups or by politicians who sought to activate voters by playing on the fears of black people taught by society to white people from a young age.

When the excuse of faith fails, however, as it does when politicians are cornered in discussions of federal policy issues or civil and constitutional rights, they refuse to recognize the term homophobia as to them their fear is legitimized by their faith, thus they are anti-gay. What is the result of anti-gay politics? The restrictions of rights, the spreading of fear of gay people and demonizing them through media. The result is the creation of an environment in our society where anyone who is different, who is gay or perceived as gay, is made to feel less than those around them, and in the cases of anyone and in particular young people struggling to develop a healthy sense of self and understanding of their own sexuality, the result can be suicide.

Mr. McCance in Arkansas is a good example of the result of the socialization of homophobia into our society. The rhetoric he used was hateful rhetoric that could only be borne out of fear of the impact of gay people on society, fear of the impact of homosexuality on his children and fear of how a society accepting of people who are gay would affect his own life. The same can be said for the anti-marriage effort in Iowa for the 2010 midterm elections. Hateful and vile rhetoric was used to demonize gay people, to compare them to many types of behavior criminalized by our society, including and especially bestiality, and rhetoric that ultimately leads to the question, what should gay people do?

If gay people are so bad, what should they do to be 'better' or to fit in with this fictional society conservatives like to allude to that is moral and virtuous? Well, since it is a choice, they need to change and live decent lives as heterosexuals. Barring that they should just stop being sexually active altogether. Since it would be unacceptable to any heterosexual to be forced to be celibate, it seems contradictory to then require that of homosexuals.

As all credible studies have shown that homosexuals are not able to alter their sexual behavior and preferences in the long-term, and therapy to support changing orientation has been deemed harmful to the individual by the American Psychiatric Association, as well as other national medical organizations, then the question is for those who can't or won't change, what should they do? Should they be rounded up and put in camps? Should they be forced to move into a specific part of this country, maybe reservations? Should they be forced to leave this country even though they are American citizens? How far does the reasoning go? How far does the anti-gay lobby want to go with their vision of a gay-free America?

There is a difference between people who have faith and believe in their faith's teachings about homosexuality and those who would want to legislate it. The difference is the fear. By playing on a common discomfort with the subject of homosexuality, the anti-gay lobby incites that fear in others. But most reasonable people recognize that it is fear, most people don't want to be bothered policing the lives of others and recognize that common 'live and let live' or 'do unto your neighbor...' philosophy. That is why the National Organization for Marriage uses the issue of voters' rights to spread their message.

In conclusion, if America is bettered by denying gay people civil rights, then what is the ultimate goal for anti-gay activists? Because of the rhetoric they use and the ideology they propose we know that they are hateful toward gay people. If that hate doesn't arise from fear of LGBT, than where does it come from? Ultimately hatred causes bigotry, and in any respect to any other minority group that bigotry would be denounced and would not be tolerated.