Poll: Does anyone really care if people are gay anymore?

[Bibliomancer]

And would people stop using the term "homophobic". Nobody is scared of gay people, nobody is scared that they are secretly gay. It is a bullshit term meant to make people who aren't into the gay culture look like bigots. Why don't we start saying "straightophobe" too?

You're not an English major, are you? Homophobic is the official word in the English language for somebody who fears or discriminates against gay people. You don't have to use the word, that's fine. But you're going to be hard pressed to have Mirriam-Webster stop publishing it.

I don't use the word to make straight people who "aren't into the gay culture" look like bigots. I use the word to make bigots look like bigots.

I know there's too many of these topics when I have to repeat myself every couple weeks.

No, I'm not an English major, not that I ever claimed to be anyways. What if someone doesn't fear gay people, and doesn't discriminate against them? For example, somebody who just doesn't agree with it, but has no problem dealing with gays on a regular basis, and can be quite nice to them, because we are all people. Would that person be a homophobe, or is it alright to disagree with the lifestyle while at the same time being respectful of their individual rights? Is that person a bigot because they can repectfully disagree, or can they just have the right to an opinion like everyone else?

I am against abortion, and would take part in protests or whatever, but I would never go up to a woman who has had an abortion and scream in her face. See what I'm saying?

I know you didn't claim to be an English major, which is why I phrased that in the form of a question.

If you don't fear them or don't discriminate against them, then I guess that doesn't fit the definition, does it? Which is why I wouldn't use the word.

I honestly don't know what it means to "not agree" with gay people. You're not part of the agreement between two men or two women, just those two men or women are part of the agreement. But, assuming "not agreeing" doesn't mean discriminately hating them, then sure I can agree that some other word should be used.

But, your initial post said people should stop using the word, which sounded like you didn't want the word used under any circumstances. Now that you're elaborated, we can see a little more eye to eye, I think.

The problem with "not having a problem dealing with gays" is really subconscious bigotry. There was a study done a few years ago, where researchers took real resumes, and randomly assigned "white names" like Amy or Brad to some, and "black names" like Jamal of Lakisha to others.

From a news report on the study: "White names got about one callback per 10 resumes; black names got one per 15. Carries and Kristens had call-back rates of more than 13 percent, but Aisha, Keisha and Tamika got 2.2 percent, 3.8 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively. And having a higher quality resume, featuring more skills and experience, made a white-sounding name 30 percent more likely to elicit a callback, but only 9 percent more likely for black-sounding names."

Being far less likely to call back candidates whose names "sound black" might suggest blatant racism, but it is quite likely that the people doing the hiring didn't think of themselves as racist and got along fine with black people that they interacted with. The point is, that even if someone doesn't think of themselves as homophobic, if they secretly disagree with gays and unconsciously act on that, they ARE homophobic.

 

[Hamster at Dawn]

I personally couldn't care less if someone is gay I just don't like it when people who are gay start acting like they're better than people who aren't. I mean, gay people are clearly inferior to us heterosexuals.*




*This is a joke.

 

[MusicalFreedom]

heh heh yes ive heard a lot of these arguments before

and to be totally honest i dont have much of a comeback except that if i had a choice i would be living in forest

but would you be performing sodomy with your fellow man

this is important

 

[runtheplacered]

Apparently enough people care about gays to make this thread go 8 pages.
On a wider note, the more people bang on about gays and their rights the more neutral/apathetic people will become alienated and take a hostile position on the subject.

That's certainly not true at all. Sitting around saying nothing will definitely not get the job done.

 

[Xanadeas]

I remember when I was with some friends and one of them said the actor who played gandalf is gay and he felt really disappointed by it, while the other, in his homophobic rage, said that gays shouldn't be allowed as actors etc. etc. etc. while I just sat there and said. "Why does it even matter?" I still ask that question, why does somebody being gay even matter? This is like going back in time to when women and blacks didn't have equal rights. I think gays and lesbians should protest like women back in the day.

It's just that there are less homosexuals than women on our planet. So there was pretty much no choice but to give them the rights they wanted, since they had some sort of power.

But who gives a shit about those damn faggots anyways? [/sarcasm] (gee, I hate how I need to say I'm being sarcastic)

That's quite true there are less of us fags than women but that doesn't mean we can't protest for rights. In fact, people DO protest for the same rights it's just that it doesn't do as much good due to the lack of numbers. If more heterosexuals/bisexuals/asexuals/whatever were to actually aid in the protesting it wouldn't be as much a problem.

Yes, that is pretty much what I was going for, didn't point that out clearly though heh.

Guess ya didn't. *Shrug* Someone would've eventually. At least it was me! You can rejoice now. ;D

 

[CNKFan]

I don't care because the few gays i know now i did not know back then. Unless if they are flamboyent gay stereotypes in person just arent that funny

 

[cathou]

well, much more people are disturbed by gays than the numbers really showed. it's just rthat often they are disturbed, but dont say it in public, or they dont even admit it to themselves, and ended up saying : "oh no, i'm cool with gays totally. as long as they stay far from me and my family, i'm really cool with them." and they think they have nothing against gays...

 

[gigastrike]

As long as they don't try to feel me up, I'm good.

 

[Mediteral]

Generally, mainstream media is homophobic.

 

[thiosk]

The libertarian in me says you shouldn't care what someone else is doing in their bedroom. If you do, you are messed up in your own way.

The future grandfather in me wants the maximum number of grandchildren, and if my kids are gay i probably won't get any.

One thing I've always wondered.

If sexual preference is not chosen, where do paedophiles fit in?

PRISON?

 

[thiosk]

doublepostfail

reported for failure

 

[DamianSummers]

I dislike the term homophobic it doesn?t make sense, homo means man/human and a phobia is an irrational fear. Ignoring that just because you don?t like something doesn?t mean or even imply that you are afraid of it.
And yes I do care if people are gay if some one in my family or a friend was gay I would want to know, if I didn?t care I wouldn?t be interested.

Incorrect, you see Homo doesn't just mean Human. Homo also means the same. As in the term homogeneous or heterogeneous, it's a case of double meaning at work. I can understand why it may cause confusion among those who use the internet as there sole source of this information
*Sigh* Sorry if that sounded flame like I just needed to get that out of my system.

 

[JonelethIrenicus]

This is all very interesting to me since I am gay. I have always tried to let people know that I am before I really get to know them. But really all this bashing in the media really makes us look worse then what is the real truth. I just hope that people actually see the truth instead of political and media lies.

 

[latenightapplepie]

This is all very interesting to me since I am gay. I have always tried to let people know that I am before I really get to know them.

Before? Huh. Not that I'm all the way out of the closet, but I would prefer to let people to judge me on my general personality before they find out I bat for the other side. Interesting...Maybe that will change with time.

 

[JonelethIrenicus]

This is all very interesting to me since I am gay. I have always tried to let people know that I am before I really get to know them.

Before? Huh. Not that I'm all the way out of the closet, but I would prefer to let people to judge me on my general personality before they find out I bat for the other side. Interesting...Maybe that will change with time.

Nothing really changes with time. People always usually guess or they can tell when I am with my boyfriend. But, i want people to see me as I am, but no one ever really does.

 

[Sick boy]

Some people do, a lot of stereotypical drunk guys at a bar, but anyone under thirty usually won't have a problem, it's usually older people BTW I'm not trying to generalize that's just how I think it is

 

[JonelethIrenicus]

Some people do, a lot of stereotypical drunk guys at a bar, but anyone under thirty usually won't have a problem, it's usually older people BTW I'm not trying to generalize that's just how I think it is

Yea, I guess so. But still, they go straight to the tread lightly tone of voice. Like I will start suing left or right. It is obnoxious and annoying.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Option 1 in this poll is pretty much the same as option 3.

This idea that gay people are inclined to push thier sexuality onto heterosexuals is ignorant and a very sad way to think.

A lot of guys are horny and sexually aggresive no matter what thier orientation. I wouldn't like to be a girl in some of the bars I go to.

 

[Mollecht]

I think this might be the wrong place to ask, if you want a clear and representative answer.

The Escapist's members usually pride themselves on being open-minded and somewhat leftist. We also have a nice lack of jocks, overly religious people and other types who *might* have a stronger tendency towards homophobic viewpoints. This, again, is just prejudice, but there you have it.