homophobia

Dictionary of Sexology Project: Main Index

Christians are famous for personalizing, rather than depersonalizing the love of God (e.g. in the form of a Jewish carpenter). For Christians to be less homophobic, somebody needs to make a good case for how the six or so passages that deal with homosexuality in the old and new testament are not condemnations of monagomous homosexual relationships. Peter Gomes, the pastor at Harvard University, does a pretty good job of this in his book named The Good Book. It will (obviously) be a long time before such ideas are accepted by fundamentalists, but many of the larger denominations in the United States, including the Presbyterian Church of the USA, have voted to allow homosexuals to be members. This is something that even the Boy Scouts haven't managed to do. Maybe they did it with God's help.

For just such an attempt by a few of our friends at Everything2, please see: A Theological Justification for Homosexual Intercourse

Also, I've been informed that the United Church of Christ ordains gay men and women, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America ordains openly gay people.

So I'm in a bar tonight. There's drink, there's little bags of peanuts. There's five people round me. It's all pretty familiar. I've become used to it, even spoiled, perhaps, by spending so much time around people who aren't offended by the fact that I'm gay. Gasp. Go on... gasp. Why would you, you're saying... But indulge me with that sharp intake of breath. I won't mind. You know why?

I'll tell you why. Because your opinions don't affect me. They don't. Someone, miles away, someone I don't even know, offended at me being gay. I like to think it's unlikely; you'd never even do it. But even if you did I'd just be vaguely sorry it bothered you. It wouldn't affect me; certainly wouldn't hurt me. But at that point in that pub one of those five people I was with received a message, and that was it... that really did hurt. All it said was why Julie's boyfriend wouldn't join us. It's interesting to imagine that anything you said, anything you could message me through e2 couldn't offend me as much as this message. Why? Because I know him. I've spent time with him. Alone, drinking together. And tonight he wouldn't join us because of me.

Perhaps I'm offensive in some way. Some bizarre way invisible to the five people I'm with. Is it something I've done? Am I loud? Am I socially embarrassing? Are they good reasons to avoid someone in the first place? I don't know... but Julie read out the SMS anyway, in that rather loud way drunken people have. Had she been sober, she'd have been wise to keep it to herself.

I've driven 100 miles. I don't want to sit with a big poof.

That's homophobia for you. It doesn't matter if you know me, or what you think of me. Why? Because if you're homophobic all that matters is that I like cock. That's all there is to it; if that's what you feel then I can't make you understand, however much I live my life, however much I try to be a person. You can mention love, all those ineffectual things that make everyone so cheerful when some spotty guy and his half-cut girlfriend decided to get married in some no-name bar in some no-name town. Try that with your boyfriend... see how far you get.

It's funny. You spend your life just being you and they hate you for who you are, and you realise that nothing's going to change it; that's it. Thanks for being homophobic; you taught me how I wish it weren't.