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.

Homophobia in popular culture

• Eminem garnered a lot of controversy as he rose to success, because of what were seen as highly homophobic lyrics, which ultimately led to GLAAD actively receiving hate-mail from fans of his. This led to a number of reactions against him, in the forms of public manifestations and even a commercial specifically filmed for the night he played at the 2001 Grammys, with the mother of a homosexual teenager, Matthew Shepard, who was beaten to death, speaking out to the general public as to the use of homophobic terms. Ironically, Eminem performed with openly gay artist Elton John that very night.
• In 2004 the reggae artist Sizzla cancelled his tours of the United Kingdom and France after protests over his homophobic lyrics, and at one point the British government considered banning him from entry into the country http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3977791.stm.
• In 2001 the Russian pop-band Chugunnyi Skorokhod (Russian "???????? ????????") (literally, "The fast-walker of pig-iron") released a song Pidory idut! (Russian "?????? ????"!) ("Fags are marching!"). The song is about how it is hard for a straight man to live in a world where gays rule (particularly, in fields of TV, show business, etc.). It contains lines like "You were born a man - you're trapped! There's no way if you are straight!" "Any hairdresser or stylist must be a homosexual! How can a straight man work, if gays want him immediately?" The reaction in the Russian society was mixed: while some gay magazines and web sites accused the authors of fascism, many people accepted it quite warmly.