Menstuff® has compiled information, books and resources on the issue of homophobia. Also see books
Myths/Facts About Homophobia
Homophobia Hurts
Everyone
Homophobes
The
SURPRISING Origins of Homophobia
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4:24
This is a pretty fabulous PSA made in Ireland that, to me, underlines
the basic idea that we can support our LGBT friends and family (or,
really, anybody who is being bullied) in some very simple ways that
have a ton of power.
Position Statement
Homophobia is destructive to individuals, society and the planet
and as long as anyone is oppressed, we will all remain oppressed.
Definition
There are four basic levels of Homophobia:
1. The fear and hatred of gays and lesbians. Gay and lesbian people live in constant fear of assault and harassment. They are regularly attacked for no other reason than their assailants' homophobia. (96% of gay men have experienced verbal abuse because of their sexual preference, over 40% have experienced physical violence.)
2. The fear of being perceived as gay or lesbian. Gay people are forced to stay in the closet for fear of suffering the prejudices and further pain. Whether gay, bisexual or heterosexual, men are afraid to ask for and to express the physical caring and emotional intimacy we feel for one another for fear of being thought "gay". Men often place demands on women to provide the nurturance, touching and affection they can not seek from one another.
3. The fear of one's own sexual or physical attraction for same-sex individuals. It is natural to be attracted to and even turned on by same-sex people. We do not have to choose to act on these feelings; nor do we have to suppress them, run away from them, or hurt others to prove we're a "real" man.
4. The fear of being gay or lesbian. On average, one person in ten
is gay. Amongst your family members, your friends, your co-workers,
the public figures you admire, one in every ten is gay. While some
have been embittered by society's prejudices, the vast majority of
gay people lead diverse, well adjusted, satisfying lives.
Discussion
Homophobia affects all people - men and women; gays,
heterosexuals and bisexuals; children, adults, elders. Homophobia
operates on four distinct but interrelated levels:
1. Personal - refers to a personal belief system (a prejudice) that sexual minorities either deserve to be pitied as unfortunate beings who are powerless to control their desires or should be hated, that they are psychologically disturbed, genetically defective, unfortunate misfits, that their existence contradicts the "laws" of nature, that they are spiritually immoral, infected pariahs, disgusting - to put it quite simply, that they are generally inferior to heterosexuals.
2. Interpersonal - is manifested when a personal bias or prejudice affects relations among individuals, transforming prejudice into its active component - discrimination. Examples of interpersonal homophobia are name-calling or "joke" telling intended to insult or defame individuals or groups; verbal and physical harassment and intimidation as well as more extreme forms of violence; the withholding of support, rejection, abandonment by friends and other peers, coworkers, and family members; services, insurance companies to extend coverage, and employers to hire on the basis of actual or perceived sexual identity.
3. Institutional - refers to the ways in which governments, businesses, and educational, religious and professional organizations systematically discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or identity. Sometimes laws, codes or policies actually enforce such discrimination. Few institutions have policies supportive of sexual minorities, and many actively work against not only those minorities but also heterosexuals who support them.
4. Cultural - (sometimes called collective or societal) refers to
the social norms or codes of behavior that, although not expressly
written into law or policy, nonetheless work within a society to
legitimize oppressions.
* Myth: Homosexuality is abnormal and sick. Fact: According to the American Psychological Association, "It is no more abnormal or sick to be homosexual than to be left handed." Homophobia, not homosexuality, is what needs to be cured.
* Myth: Loving people of the same sex is immoral (sinful). Fact: Many religious denominations do not believe this. What is universally understood is that intolerance and hatred is wrong.
* Myth: Gay men are child molesters and recruit children into their life-style. Fact: By far, the majority of child molesters are heterosexual. There are no laws keeping heterosexuals away from children.
* Myth: Bisexuals, lesbians and gays could change if they really wanted to. Fact: Most studies indicate that those who are highly motivated to change their sexual preference may change their behavior, but not their underlying desire (orientation). In fact, it is often societal homophobia that forces people to attempt change. Therefore, energy should go into dismantling homophobia so that people will feel comfortable with their sexuality, whatever that may be.
* Myth: Lesbians are failed females, haven't found the right man or want to be male. Fact: Most lesbians enjoy being women and are attracted to women rather than men.
* Myth: Gays are feminized, failed males and want to be female. Fact: Most gays enjoy being males and are attracted to men rather than women.
* Myth: Bisexuals just can't make up their minds. Fact: Bisexuals can make up their minds: they are attracted to both sexes in varying degrees. Some may be attracted more to men, some more to women,and some equally to both sexes.
* Myth: Lesbians, bisexuals, and gays are promiscuous and cannot maintain long-term relationships. Fact: As do heterosexuals, gays, lesbians and bisexuals form a variety of relationships, lasting from one night to many years. Besides, some define the term promiscuous as "anyone who gets more than me". Also, heterosexuals had a 49 percent divorce rate in 1989, which suggests that there is nothing inherent in heterosexuality that maintains strong, long-term relationships.
* Myth: Lesbians, gays and bisexuals do not make good partners. Fact: One out of four families has a lesbian or gay in their immediate family; heterosexual parents are consistently not found to be more loving or caring than their lesbian, gay or bisexual counterparts.
* Myth: Bisexuals, gays and lesbians are protected by civil rights law. Fact: By 1992, in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey and Hawaii and some municipalities around the country, they were protected in the areas of housing, employment, public accommodations and credit, but in most places they are not accorded equal rights under the law.
* Myth: AIDS is a gay disease. Fact: Although the majority of
people infected with HIV in the United States are gay, AIDS affects
everyone. In other countries, it effects equal numbers of males and
females, most presumably heterosexual, and their children. The
highest increase in recent years in this country has been among
infecting drug users, many of whom are heterosexual.
Thy protests too much. What's your fear?
* Homophobic conditioning compromises the integrity of heterosexual people by pressuring them to treat others badly, actions contrary to their basic humanity.
* Homophobia inhibits one's ability to form close, intimate relationships with members of one's own sex.
* Homophobia generally restricts communication with a significant portion of the population and, more specifically, limits family relationships.
* Homophobia is one cause of premature sexual involvement, which increases the changes of teen pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. (Young people are often pressure to become heterosexually active to prove to themselves and others that they are "normal".
* Homophobia combined with sexphobia (fear and repulsion of sex) results in the elimination of any discussion of the life-styles and sexuality of sexual minorities as part of school-based sex education, keeping vital information from all students. A lack of information can kill people in the age of AIDS.
* Homophobia can be used to stigmatize, silence, and, on occasion, target people who are perceived or defined by others as gay, lesbian or bisexual* but who are actually heterosexual.
* Homophobia prevents heterosexuals from accepting the benefits and gifts offered by sexual minorities: theoretical insights, social and spiritual visions and options, contributions in the arts and culture, to religion, to family life, indeed to all facets of society.
* Homophobia (along with racism, sexism, classism, sexphobia, etc.) inhibits a unified and effective governmental and societal response to AIDS.
* Homophobia inhibits appreciation of other types of diversity, making it unsafe for everyone because each person has unique traits not considered mainstream or dominant.
* Homophobia diverts energy from more constructive endeavors - like the planet and its inhabitants.
International Day Against Homophobia: Cuba
Celebrates Diversity With Transvestite Beauty Pageant
Now in its second year, Miss Trasvesti 2011's sinewy contestants strutted down a runway in sequined evening gowns and stiletto heels to mark the International Day Against Homophobia, which itself was marked with a colorful parade and other events throughout Havana.
The gender-bending event showed just how far Cuba has come since the 1960s and 1970s, when gays reportedly lost jobs, were imprisoned or fled to exile. As the AP is reporting, Fidel Castro’s niece Mariela is an active gay and lesbian advocate, and also heads the government-backed National Sexual Education Center.
View photos of the Miss Trasvesti pageant at:
www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/16/international-day-against-homophobia-cuba-beauty-pageant_n_862674.html#s279355
"Dancing With the Stars" off the Gaydar
So what are the chances you can pull a bunch of professional dancers together and none of them are gay? We're thinkin' the odds are about the same as Britney getting mother of the year.
But here's the deal ... The dudes on "Dancing with the Stars" are pretty much straighter than your average arrow. Tony is married with a kid and twins on the way. Derek is reportedly doing the dirty dip with Shannon Elizabeth. Mark was doing the horizontal tango with a Cheetah chick. Jonathan is married to a hottie. And there are two other guys.
So here's what our "Dancing" spies tell us. Producers prefer
straight, because it creates believable sexual tension on the dance
floor and that's what the audience wants. Think of Kristi Yamaguchi
doing a rumba with Tommy Tune. Pleeeeze.
Source: www.tmz.com/2008/05/20/dancing-with-the-stars-off-the-gaydar/?icid=1615984944x1202843008x1200305960
Top General Calls Homosexuality 'Immoral':
Gay Advocacy Group Blasts Comment as 'Outrageous'
"I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way," Gen. Peter Pace said of the "don't ask, don't tell" rule concerning gays in the military.
In a newspaper interview Monday, Pace had likened homosexual acts to adultery and said the military should not condone it by allowing gays to serve openly in the armed forces.
"General Pace's comments are outrageous, insensitive and disrespectful to the 65,000 lesbian and gay troops now serving in our armed forces," the advocacy group Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said in a statement on its Web site.
The group has represented some of the thousands dismissed from the military for their sexual orientation.
Pace's senior staff members said Tuesday that the general was expressing his personal opinion and had no intention of apologizing. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak on the record.
Rep. Martin Meehan, who has introduced legislation to repeal the current policy, criticized Pace's comments.
"General Pace's statements aren't in line with either the majority of the public or the military," said the Massachusetts Democrat . "He needs to recognize that support for overturning (the policy) is strong and growing" and that the military is "turning away good troops to enforce a costly policy of discrimination."
In an interview Monday with the Chicago Tribune, Pace was asked about the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that allows gays and lesbians to serve if they keep their sexual orientation private and don't engage in homosexual acts.
"I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts," Pace was quoted as saying in the newspaper interview. "I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way."
Pace, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and a 1967 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, said he based his views on his upbringing.
"As an individual, I would not want (acceptance of gay behavior) to be our policy, just like I would not want it to be our policy that if we were to find out that so-and-so was sleeping with somebody else's wife, that we would just look the other way, which we do not. We prosecute that kind of immoral behavior," he said.
The newspaper said Pace did not address concerns raised by a 2005 government audit that showed some 10,000 troops, including more than 50 specialists in Arabic, have been discharged because of the policy.
Louis Vizcaino, spokesman for the gay rights group Human Rights Campaign, said Pace's comments were "insulting and offensive to the men and women ... who are serving in the military honorably."
"Right now there are men and women that are in the battle lines, that are in the trenches, they're serving their country," Vizcaino said. "Their sexual orientation has nothing to do with their capability to serve in the U.S. military."
"Don't ask, don't tell" was passed by Congress in 1993 after a firestorm of debate in which advocates argued that allowing homosexuals to serve openly would hurt troop morale and recruitment and undermine the cohesion of combat units.
John Shalikashvili, the retired Army general who was Joint Chiefs chairman when the policy was adopted, said in January that he has changed his mind on the issue since meeting with gay servicemen.
"These conversations showed me just how much the military has
changed, and that gays and lesbians can be accepted by their peers,"
Shalikashvili wrote in a newspaper opinion piece.
Source: news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/top-general-calls-homosexuality-immoral/20070313002509990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
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2. 
3.
Men in Skirts - Homophobia in Our
Military
A theory posed by Aaron Lynch in his book, Thought
Contagion, asks how beliefs spread through society? He theorizes
that homosexuality and its taboo affect the popularity of various
sexual fetishes common to heterosexual males. A big breast fetish
evolves and spreads among boys eager to declare an orientation. "By
voicing attraction to protruding breasts, males can publicly imply
their exclusive heterosexuality--because protruding breasts are only
noticed publicly on females." Explaining why this differs from
culture to culture, he notes that in Europe where males hold less
fear of latent homosexuality, the culture places less emphasis on
large breasts. Interesting, isn't it?
Holding Hands
Men walk hand-in-hard in many countries. From bush people in Africa to men in many Arab countries. In Russia, they kiss. In France the kiss multiple times. In Indonesia they walk arm-in-arm or lean on a shoulder. And, in many countries men hug.
It is said that in the US, a man touches another human being 6 to
8 times a day. 4 to 6 of those are sexual. In Spain, a man touches
another human being over 100 times a day. 6 to 8 of them sexual. What
we miss out on are all of those human connections because of our fear
of what it might be seen as. And that's sad.
Your Children May Be Victims of Homophobia:
YOURS! An Important Question for Same-Gender Parents
Naked Warwick Men's Rowing Team Calendar
Makes A Splash To Fight Homophobia
The 2015 naked calendar of the University of Warwick men's rowing team is out to combat gay discrimination.
The U.K. squad has been producing a nude datebook fundraiser since 2009. When it discovered that much of its audience was gay, the team figured it should direct its charity toward the LGBT community, according to a video released to promote the new calendar.
So the team has helped established a charity called Sport Allies, "a programme to reach out to young people challenged by bullying, homophobia or low self-esteem," per the Warwick Rowers website.
Previous calendars have raised more than $300,000 and are now sold in 77 countries, the video explains.
The team is reportedly up for a PinkNews Award, which is given out by the European LGBT news service of the same name.
Row, row, row your boats, gentlemen, and keep up the good work.
Those interested in purchasing the calendar or other merchandise
can click here.
The team pledges to donate at least 10 percent of every purchase to
Sport Allies.
Source: www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/31/naked-warwick-rowers_n_6083632.html
If you fear homosexuals, ask yourself why. What Every Man Needs to Know
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