1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Why is there homophobia?

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by gibson234, Apr 28, 2015.

  1. gibson234

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2013
    Messages:
    1,135
    Likes Received:
    4
    Location:
    UK,Wales
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Some people
    Why do people hate gay people? What is the root cause? I don't really know. There are plenty of people doing bad stuff in the world to expel one's hatred on. So why do people waste it on people who aren't harming anyone?

    Does anyone have any ideas?
     
  2. Rainbows~Exist

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2013
    Messages:
    926
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Wales... unfortunately
    The root cause is ignorance. Unfortunately there will always be ignorant dumbasses present in society to hate on anything 'different'.
     
  3. MCairo

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2014
    Messages:
    663
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Seoul, KR
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Questioning
    Out Status:
    Not out at all
    Ignorance allied with religious dogmas.
    Before the rise of Christianity homosexuality wasn't actually regarded as a bad behaviour. Many Roman emperors had gay lovers and never had to hide it.
     
  4. gravechild

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2013
    Messages:
    3,425
    Likes Received:
    110
    Gender:
    Androgyne
    Gender Pronoun:
    They
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    A few people
    This is a misconception. It was acceptable in the Greco-Roman world, as long as the partner was a young boy, and a submissive bottom. I do know that implying someone was gay in the Viking world was considered an insult, and sometimes responded with violence. I'd say femininity in men has been stigmatized around the world for thousands of years, and same-sex attractions was usually correlated with it.

    More often than not, I think it was something people knew of or suspected, but was kept hidden from the public.
     
  5. TheStormInside

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2014
    Messages:
    1,308
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    New England, US
    I've heard it said (perhaps on this forum, I'm not sure) that men fear being treated by other men how men treat women. In other words, being objectified and treated as inferior. It seems to me that (as gravechild said) it's more about femininity and the breaking of gender norms, which is often associated with homosexuality. Our society has patriarchal origins and still remains so in many ways. Men behaving "womanly" is equivalent to some as men being "weak" because femininity is perceived as weakness. And for more masculine females, it may seem as though they are also breaking gender norms, not pandering to the male gaze or male desire and "playing male" when they are still female.

    That's quite a feminist perspective, but I think there is some validity to it. There are certainly many religious issues as well, but if we are talking about the visceral reaction some homophobes seem to have, I think it is more about what I said above.
     
  6. MCairo

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2014
    Messages:
    663
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Seoul, KR
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Questioning
    Out Status:
    Not out at all
    Yes I heard about the teacher-student relationship, but love between soldiers wasn't uncommon either, nor were poems or art in general that had gay love as the main topic. I was only talking about the Greco-Roman world as you said though and have no idea about how homophobic were the Germanic tribes (or any other tribes). I do agree that femininity in men was probably even more stigmatized back then.

    Then again I only have superficial knowledge about these topics.
     
    #6 MCairo, Apr 28, 2015
    Last edited: Apr 28, 2015
  7. BryanM

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2013
    Messages:
    2,894
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Columbia, Missouri
    Gender:
    Genderqueer
    Gender Pronoun:
    They
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Fear and ignorance breed hate. Religious fundamentalism is a main provider of that fear and ignorance over the years.
     
  8. Ryu

    Ryu
    Full Member

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2014
    Messages:
    79
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Under a rock according to 'cool' people
    I think it's interesting that many other species occasionally exhibit homosexual behaviour, but only humans exhibit homophobic behaviour.
     
  9. SpaceJayce

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Nov 22, 2014
    Messages:
    64
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    NYC
    The way I've always seen it, hatred has to be taught. A baby fresh out of the womb isn't going to be homophobic, or transphobic, biphobic, racist, etc etc. Hatred stems from their environments and what they are taught at an early age. If parents teach their children that being gay is unnatural and immoral, that is what they will grow up believing. It's why there's a whole fuss about LGBT issues being taught in public schools. You wouldn't believe the kickback from parens my school got for showing the Bruce Jenner interview and I'm in NYC, widely regarded to be one of the more liberal areas.
     
  10. Fallingdown7

    Fallingdown7 Guest

    Personally, I think sexism has always been the main cause.

    In regards to gay men, this is applied in the way that they are seen as being submissive, feminine, and receptive- as if they are taking a woman's role. Women have always been seen as male property in the old old days and men as strong and macho- so for a man to put himself in a male relationship or penetrated role degrades him and insults him as a man (In the eyes of society). Even in days where homosexuality was more accepted, it was the bottom who was insulted and looked down upon.

    This is also true for lesbians, they are also hated due to sexism. I have never experienced homophobia because I liked girls- but because I don't allow myself to be sexually available to men. The latter is the main cause of the hatred and homophobic abuse I endure.
     
  11. JohnX

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 20, 2015
    Messages:
    119
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Rock Bottom
    Gender:
    Male
    Out Status:
    A few people
    Because homosexuality is a SIN!!!! IT'S UNNATURAL!!!!
     
  12. LakanLunti

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jan 30, 2015
    Messages:
    110
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Philippines
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Well, religion in inevitable in this topic but I choose not to go to that topic.

    I think the gay culture in a place is somewhat a factor in this, I am not stating this in general tho.
    Here in the Philippines, there are some gays and trans females here who are sexual predators. Like they would harass guys in a rude way. How? Well, a friend of mine told me that a gay guy walked up on him as asked him, with no remorse, for a BJ. He, of course, just walked away from him. I guess that's where the homophobia in the Philippines came. But it is still unfair because there are LOTS of good LGBT people here.
     
  13. Tightrope

    Full Member

    Joined:
    May 31, 2013
    Messages:
    5,415
    Likes Received:
    387
    Location:
    USA
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Some people
    Religiosity aside, a guy once told me that societies have tended to ostracize or think less of those who do not reproduce. Then, when you throw in the religious part, which encourages people to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, that gives more fuel to the fire.

    Today, a good deal of it is religious. It's also that a few people's insecurities are piqued by the existence of homosexuality and the fact that they may have sampled it or, if not, had some homosexual fantasy. Then, when some people mature, some people tend to look down at those who did not reproduce as being irresponsible and lesser beings than they are.
     
  14. Theo Weiss

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2015
    Messages:
    109
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    New York
    I believe that people who are brought up believing that being with someone of the same gender is a sin is more likely to be homophobic which is quite unfortunate. Religion does play a role in homophobia but also schools don't educated students enough about people of the LGBT community. I'm afraid that some under-educated youths in our society see the LGBT community as being somewhat taboo in nature which is also very unfortunate. I think the main source of homophobia is honestly intolerance and ignorance.
     
  15. BehindTheAura

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2014
    Messages:
    36
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Michigan
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    People are ignorant and would rather listen to an outdated book than looking at how society is evolving and we are slowly falling behind because of this ignorance.
     
  16. JohnX

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 20, 2015
    Messages:
    119
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Rock Bottom
    Gender:
    Male
    Out Status:
    A few people
    This is true on so many levels. Gays in the PH have a negative connotation because there are gays who act like whores with high sex drives. They give the LGBT community a bad reputation. Also, Philippines is a conservative and religious country. Some religious groups think homosexuality is a contagious disease. But they don't mind seeing girls dancing on TV wearing only a bra and panty.
     
  17. Daydreamer1

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Aug 17, 2011
    Messages:
    5,680
    Likes Received:
    21
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Gender:
    Male (trans*)
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Other
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    I blame the wide spread of Christianity, and the many mistranslations it adapted later on.
     
  18. Chi and Bashful

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2015
    Messages:
    1
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Ohio
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    The same reason there is racism, sexism, antisemitism and general all around hate ego people want to feel special so they will find any reason to build them selves up and they often find the best way to do that it's to tear someone else down, which is really sad
     
  19. Manitoban

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2014
    Messages:
    279
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Winnipeg, MB, Canada
    I think the actual reasoning when boiled down is fear. Fear of difference to be specific. We are not the norm, obviously straights far outnumber us, and things that are not the norm tend to be shunned. Conformity is drilled into us at an early age in the public school system demanding that you conform. It's entrenched in society this way, and if you break the paradigm there is bound to be consequences. Whether you show affection for the person you actually want to show your love to or because you walked into the store without shoes.

    However if it becomes more commonplace to see and hear about these things people naturally become more tolerant and even perhaps accepting.

    Clinical sounding as it is, I think thats probably the best explanation I can think of.
     
  20. Purp

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2015
    Messages:
    489
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Virginia
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Other
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    All good answers it looks like. It definitely might be different for all sorts of people. Some may be rooted in sexism, some may be internalized, some is grounded in religion, some is for maintaining conformity and status quo. Several of these cases may have more than one underlying cause. It depends on the person and their environment I feel.