Homophobia

The term "homophobia" is constructed from Greek ?????? (homos), same and ????? (fobos), fear. It has two meanings. The less common or literal meaning is "fear of the same". It is, however, almost exclusively used in the alternate sense of an intense aversion to, or disapproval of, homosexuals and/or homosexuality, bordering on the irrational.

Excerpts from discussions of the term

Gay rights supporter Scott Bidstrup, in a personal essay titled Homophobia: The Fear Behind The Hatred, emphasizes the association between prejudice and fear:

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:If you look up homophobia in the dictionary, it will probably tell you that it is the fear of homosexuals. While many would take issue with that definition, it is nevertheless true that in many ways, it really is a fear of homosexuality or at least homosexuals{{fn|1}}.

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Niclas Berggren, writing in the Independent Gay Forum, argues that "homophobic" opinions are irrational:

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:It is usually not the case, for homophobic persons, that the basis of their attitudes towards homosexuality is rational reasoning, or intellectual argumentation. Such endeavors have, as a rule, been added afterwards, to try to give the homophobia a nicer and more respectable framing. However, these attempts to argue intellectually against homosexuality are utter failures{{fn|2}}.

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Christian commentator Gregory Koukl, in a personal essay titled Heterosexism, objects to the medicalization of a moral position:

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:The word homophobia has come to describe any kind of opposition to homosexuality of any sort, but its interesting that part of their (homosexuals') goal was to shift the emphasis from what many perceived to be a homosexual problem, away from the homosexual activity itself, and towards the attitude people have about homosexuality... They purposely did this to change the focus of the discussion from the morality of their activity and the social appropriateness of their lifestyle to the attitudinal bias of those who would judge them{{fn|4}}.

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