Hi there. Some of you may know me from the forum (I’m the deluded, China-obsessed one). My name is Tom, and I’m…. NOT an alcoholic, no, heaven forbid. But I am homophobic. Well, not homophobic to the ignorant, bigoted fundamentalist sense of the word (but you have to admit, without them “lovelies”, none of this gay comedy would exist. Do we humans love controversy or what?). What I go through, how I react… If I lashed out on the forum and let rip, I could be classed as homophobic.
How this came about is a completely different issue to realising how you feel. I don’t think people ARE homophobic. I mean, we ARE human, we can’t change that (unless some of us turn back into apes again. Or should I say, turned already), but we can change from hating gay people to accepting they exist in OUR community, be it down your local, or the British community as a whole. My personal strategy would be prevention before cure. But unfortunately, some humans grow up pretty much sick of a section of society. Chavs, rappers, emos, men. Ok, we have very valid reasons to hate them, but just because we can, doesn’t mean we should. (You may be thinking now “Hypocrite” with a capital exclamation mark. But it is not fun acting all morally superior, my emotional stability survives on sexism for starters!)
Before I lose the will to stick to the topic, this is an introduction. I will be producing a series of articles on my personal experiences, each with a general theme about how it either is or ended up becoming a factor towards my 12 step programme to homophobia, and hopefully, I can stop you becoming like me too. Maybe you can save yourself some emotional hell as well (which is surprising, I was told by my American bishop counterpart that it’d be hell, fire and brimstone… he’s obviously not read his bible properly if he forgot the emotional torture. Can’t have that! Tsk tsk, how else is he going to condemn us for God’s sake?)
And before you moan, yes I am an opinionated, political, stubborn and overconfident twit. So don’t expect me to be sitting on the sidelines umming and ahhing. I save that for my education time. And I’ll also let you know, some gay men I can get on with. Even more of a minority than the number of open relationships between the Borg (although one can interpret that as one giant collective orgy), but it’s a start. Homophobia from gay people is not uncommon. However, it is swept under the carpet, especially in the “Liberal” West. If only the straight population knew… well hopefully, the gay population will now.
Note:
I do tend to rant on about men. But I’m a big believer in the inadequacy of gender to define our lives, so apply who I talk about to anyone you want should what I describe be relevant.
I also accept criticism that I act like I know the ins and outs of sexuality and societal function. You can disagree with me on a number of issues, and I’d probably take it that your were right, ‘cos I do have a habit of assuming everything I write is good. Either way though, I’d prefer to be up my own bum than be insecure about what knowledge and talent I do have. I only intend to provide advice and warning, and if I step over that, I apologise.