by Sharda Patasar

Created on: July 25, 2008   Last Updated: January 19, 2009

Homophobia, just to clarify the term, is one that is used loosely to mean anyone who has either a fear of or dislike for homosexuals. The word 'phobia' leads the nitpicker to dismantle the word and try to justify that the dislike is not a phobia. I tend to agree with the nitpicker this time. Semantics. Personally I prefer the term 'homosexual bias' but to simplify matters for the sake of the majority I will employ the use of the term homophobia in this article.

The word 'phobia' on its own suggests 'the abnormal fear of or aversion to'. When it forms a suffix, it means 'a fear of or dislike'. The main point though is that there is still the presence of fear. I choose to somewhat overlook 'dislike' because at the core of dislike, in this case, is the subconscious presence of fear, fear of change that makes us cling to traditions and outdated religious arguments. That fear of change is perhaps one of the oldest and more than likely root causes of prejudice of all kinds. It does not necessarily exist on the conscious level of our minds therefore making it difficult to answer the question "Why?"

It is easy to say "I am not afraid of homosexuals. They are people and I don't fear people. It's just that I don't agree with their lifestyle because what they are doing goes against the laws of God and it is as sin." Aye! But there's the rub! Homosexuals are exactly that- people. And as people we all have the legal right to self-determination, to claim our identity as individuals existing under the common banner of humanity. Disagreement with homosexuality isn't simply disagreement as for example disagreement about a particular view which may very well be left alone with the words "each person to his/her own". This disagreement is accompanied by condemnation of person whereby the vision of being in love with someone of the same sex blots out the essence of the man or woman and there is the dogged attempt to exact change. And THAT is prejudice. And it therefore becomes an entirely different matter when there is the subtle attempt to infringe on the right of another human being to assert his/her right to personal identity.

The questions provoked here are, since when does an individual's sexuality define the character of that individual? It requires understanding of what constitutes the character of a man or woman. Since when does heterosexuality equal morality? As for the religious argument, throw it out with everything that's man-made! Because if man and woman were meant

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