Dissecting The Word "Homophobia" And Its Misappropriations

Amidst all the hysterical media posturing and vulgar slander directed at Miss California Carrie Prejean for daring to espouse a position contrary to the militant "gay rights" lobby on the issue of gay marriage, and the more recent media savaging of a generalized Christian segment of society - who may or may not even be aware of the existence of the FOX show American Idol - for allegedly voting in droves for the "All-American" Kris Allen just to deny the flamboyantly effeminate Adam Lambert his "rightful victory" on the show, the word homophobia has been passed around more often recently than special brownies at a Hollywood mixer. Given the left's penchant for hijacking and misappropriating terminology to suit their own agenda, I thought I'd take a closer look at this word that is so shamelessly used to marginalize anyone that dares to engage in logical discussion about the morality of the homosexual lifestyle or about whether or not a homosexual union can ever be considered as being on a par with marriage - which is by definition the union of a man and a woman.

Now, the mere use of the word homophobia in the context that it is currently used already betrays a lack of appreciation for semantics. The prefix homo derives from the Greek word for "same." It is used in many different contexts, and is not inextricably linked with same-sex attraction as the self-absorbed "gay rights" lobby would have us believe. The suffix phobia comes from the Greek phobos, meaning "fear." So while the word homophobia is nowadays used to refer to discrimination against those who hold attraction for members of the same sex, the word literally means "fear of the same."

Now, it is a common tactic of the militant "gay rights" lobby to portray so-called "gay bashers" as being repressed homosexuals themselves, so I do not doubt that there are those who understand what the word truly means and use it as such to blunt criticism of the gay lifestyle. They go out of their way to avoid facing the possibility that there are people out there who might actually be opposed to homosexual acts based on sound moral reasoning, preferring instead to fancy that all opposition to homosexual behavior must necessarily be based on some psychological defect on the part of those who oppose such behavior.

By labeling opposition to such behavior a phobia, "gay rights" activists create the impression that it is a given that opposition to homosexual behavior is a psychological disorder. Using the word with this intent makes all the more sense given the fact that, though the word was supposedly first coined in the mid 1950's, according to the Wikipedia article on homophobia the word first began to carry the connotation of being an irrational opposition to homosexual behavior in 1972. Not coincidentally, the very next year the "gay rights" lobby successfully prevailed upon the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality from its list of psychological disorders. So in the space of a single year, the secular culture went from regarding homosexuality as a psychological disorder to regarding opposition to homosexuality as a psychological disorder. So much for "gay rights" activists simply wanting to "live and let live."

This, ladies and gentlemen, is why we do not look to the secular world to define truth.

With "gay rights" militants putting their loathing for both the democratic process and Christianity on full display after failing to get their desired result on California's Proposition 8 vote, the disgraceful treatment to which Carrie Prejean has been subjected for giving a straightforward answer to a highly inappropriate question for a beauty pageant, and the unjustifiable denunciation of Christians on no less flimsy a pretext than that an American Idol contestant - favored by the left precisely because he is a homosexual - failed to win the competition according to the left's desires, I can't help but think that it is more appropriate to refer to the militant "gay rights" lobby as heterophobes, rather than to refer to those who are morally opposed to the homosexual lifestyle as homophobes. After all, it is the heterophobes who have shown an irrational fear of allowing those who oppose their lifestyle to make their opinions known.

Now, I know there are those out there who have homosexual tendencies who do not express vitriol every time someone expresses disapproval of their actions. There are those who can befriend others even when they are aware of another's moral objection to homosexual behavior, because they know that that disapproval is not tantamount to a rejection of them as individuals. They may not be especially happy with the other person's views, any more than the other person would be happy with theirs; but there is a mutual understanding that those contrasting views are sincerely held. What I term heterophobia does not refer to such individuals (though I do continue to pray for a conversion of their hearts, that they may turn away from such behavior). Heterophobia refers, rather, to the mindset of those who demand unconditional and uncritical approval of their behavior, especially those who try to bully or otherwise intimidate their ideological opponents into forced silence or acceptance (for instance, a protester who slaps a cross out of an elderly woman's hand and then proceeds to physically and emotionally harass her, or a vulgar "shock jock" blogger who puts a 21 year old beauty pageant finalist in the awkward position of having to answer a highly inappropriate and agenda-driven question, and then calls her a dumb b***h because he's not man enough to handle her answer); for such individuals truly do fear those who are different from themselves. In any free society, their agenda is necessarily doomed to failure. May we continue to pray for a conversion of their hearts as well. God bless!


In Jesus and Mary,
Gerald