Quote:
Originally posted by Froggy
I'd say we can cool it on the name calling lest we create an excuse for removal to the delete zone.
The term "homophobe" has always struck me as public relations genius by the gay rights people. Before that, there was no widespread pejorative for someone who was anti-homosexual. With the entry of "homophobe" as supposedly synonymous with "anti-gay," an anti-gay person all of a sudden was presumed to have a phobia of homosexuals, with the implication that he subconsciously questioned his own sexual orientation.
That's right up there with changing "bums" to "street people," and finally, "the homeless."
Being in marketing myself, I applaud the stroke of brilliance, but avoid the term "homophobe." I feel it's highly inexact, and probably no more gentlemanly than calling someone by one of the gay epithets.
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I disagree. I never thought that "homophobe" was an insult. It's just a "state of being". It doesn't imply that someone questions their own sexuality, it just means they have an irrational (there's that word again!) fear or hatred of homosexuality.
Mike