So there's this guy in my psych class who I've become friends with and he's from India. Wednesday, when we were leaving, I made a comment to him about how I'm so tired of the girl behind me making homophobic slurs all the time. This was our conversation. Him- "Wait, but are you...?" "I'm pan, which just is a fancy way of saying that I don't care about gender." "Oh okay. I'll be honest, I used to be homophobic when I was younger. Everybody in my town was, so I thought that was the 'right' thing. But when we moved and I actually met people who are gay, I realized that it wasn't that I was afraid of gay people, or that I didn't like them, I just didn't know anything about them. So I know where she's coming from, and I think that's why I can't stand her. She has a perfect opportunity to enlighten herself and she's using it to spread hate instead." I don't know why, but I have a lot more respect for him after that conversation.
Totally get you. I'd silently scream in delight if someone said that to me. Just proves to see how homophobic people can change for the better. It's really nice.
Agree with the above poster. I understand that he was told to hate as a kid and those are hard habits to break. But you know what he is working on breaking them - admitting one is wrong about their beliefs is probably one of the hardest things someone can do. Trying to change them is even better. I would respect him as well.