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12/22/2008
Term limits: Diffusing the 'I'm not homophobic' logic
So our ol' pal Peter LaBarbera has given a forum to Rev. Wayne Perryman, affording the conservative person of faith an opportunity to defend his anti-gay views. And in said piece, Perryman demonstrates one of the mostly oft-repeated flaws of the anti-gay side's way of thinking. Here, check this out and then we'll get back to you:
Am I Homo-Phobic if I do not like, accept or feel comfortable with the gays’ sexual expression (behavior)? Homo-Phobic meaning: fearing or hating the gay person or the homosexual individual who engages in such behavior? Before answering this question, please let me share with you other behaviors that I am uncomfortable with.
* I do not like (or I am uncomfortable with) heterosexuals who affectionately make out in public when they can do it in the privacy of their homes – Am I Hetero-Phobic and hate heterosexuals?
* I do not like (or I am uncomfortable with) individuals who cheat on their spouse – This means I must have a Spousal Cheater-Phobic and hate or fear spouses that cheat.
* I do not like it (and I feel uncomfortable) when my sons sag their pants like gang members – Perhaps I hate or fear my sons . Shall we call this Sons-Phobic?
* I do not like it (and I am uncomfortable) when drivers cut other drivers off on the freeway – Am I Driver-Phobic and hate or fear drivers?
* I do not like it when my African American brothers and sisters use the “N” word. This must mean I am Afro-Phobic and fear and hate my African American brothers and sisters?
* I do not like and I am uncomfortable with a lot of my own bad habits – Am I Self –Phobic and hate and fear myself?
I guess you get my point. Just because I do not like certain behaviors or that I am uncomfortable with certain behaviors, does not mean that I fear or hate the person who engage in such behavior.
FOOLISH FULL ENTRY: Rev. Wayne Perryman Is Homo Phobic [AFT]
Okay, so Rev. Perryman is trying to clear his name by saying that he's not homophobic (one, non-hypehnated word, btw). But here's the thing: "HOMOPHOBIC" IS JUST A FRICKIN' WORD! And in fact, it's a word that we almost never use here at G-A-Y, because we would agree that is doesn't fully describe the full gamut of people who stand against our equality. There are some with an irrational hate and fear towards gays, and they would more ably fall under the "homophobic" umbrella. But we 100% agree that one can stand against ever single gay rights measure and have that be due to things like misguided heterosexism, not homophobia.
The anti-gay side often acts like we gay activist hinge all of our arguments around this one term. If you're like us, you've heard the "I'm not homophobic -- I don't HATE gays" line more times than you care to count. But the line is utter nonsense. Rev. Perryman can highlight a million other "-phobics" that he's not, and it won't change anything. If he thinks that LGBT people are sick, wrong, immoral, fixable, non-deservimg, etc., then he is standing in unreasoned, unfair opposition to a community of his fellow human beings. The semantics are far less important than whether or not you view our love as satanic!
Your thoughts
I do not like smug preachers, does that mean I'm asshole-phobic? Why yes, yes it does.
Posted by: John Ozed | Dec 22, 2008 1:27:16 PM
Not liking something is completely different than getting up in a pulpit and raging against something. If this jerk gets up in his pulpit regularly and aggressively ranting against any of those other things, then I would say that he has a mental defect. So, mental illness might be a better term for homophobia - oh, wait, that would be a form of mental illness.
Posted by: Dick Mills | Dec 22, 2008 2:31:15 PM
No, it just means your homophobic, and where your homophobic your most likely bigoted to. No one likes being called names, especial when it implies some sort of social condemnation (which is why its an important label) and i do not doubt that there are racists who don't like being called as such and have all sorts of wonderful justifications in there mind as to the dislike, distrust or hatred of people of a different race. Thankfully though, the label of racist or homophobic doesn't get to be defined or chosen by those who are ultimately to be labeled as such. It's up to the communities which must deal with the intolerance that comes with such feelings and beliefs to define and use the terms.
Posted by: Patrick B | Dec 22, 2008 8:05:04 PM
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