Would you be homophic if you were straight?

[1st love ron]

I'd look down on gay people with scorn and as second class citizens if I were a het. I wouldn't ever call them names though.

 

[Just_Believe18]

I was actually anti-gay (not homophobic though) at a younger age before I realized my sexuality. Who knows? Family and culture can do a number on you, if you never take the time to put yourself in someone else's shoes.

 

[pjlikesporn]

I'm not hetrophobic now
so
I doubt I would be homophobic.

Not sure if this analogy really works given that there is no strong cultural tradition of heterophobia--in neither gay nor straight culture. I think the statement implies that homophobia is a natural fear of those with opposing sexuality. In contrast, homophobia stems largely from social norms against gays that have become part of our culture.

 

[spreadeagle]

Of course! Homophobia is endemic in the population. Most boys who attend school have learnt words like 'faggot', 'poof', 'queer' and 'gay' as terms of abuse before they ever have an understanding of what those words mean or imply.

Consequently most gaymen have internalised homophobia before they are sexually mature and that's what makes coming out such a difficult process - you recognise yourself as the very thing you've been taught to despise. You've been brainwashed, and you have to re-invent your thinking, often without any social support.

Having said that, I hope I'd have the common sense and tolerance to recognise the wastefulness and injustice of homophobia and to reject the insanity once I recognised it in myself.

 

[SFMusic]

Probably not. My siblings are rather religious and conservative, but are very open and accepting of gays. Of course they are open and accepting because of having a gay brother, but if I were straight....maybe we would all be homophobic

 

[wentworth]

Taking into consideration your own behavior towards life, being conservative and not being too liberal, would you think you´d be homophobic?

I think I wouldn´t homophobic, but I would think strange gay people.

You can never really tell, can you?
I would probably have not cared at all, nor would I have had anything to do with gay people. It would have been the safest course of action for me.

 

[charles coppinger]

My upbringing was in a conservative family, and my religious training was in fundamentalist christian churches that all taught that homosexuality was a sin. It took me years to "unlearn" my education, and to re-learn a new, open, accepting, and honest way of thinking and faith. My world view, my political view, and my view about diversity is so radically different than my early years in ministry. I often feel deep regret over the messages of rejection I said and taught. I will work to love and offer support to God's lgbtq children for the rest of my life. With all that said I can only pray that if I were straight, that I would have found the truth of open-mindedness. But.... I am thrilled that I am not straight. If God were asking all the little "spirit babies" in heaen, "Who wants to be gay?", I would wave my hands and say. "pick me! pick me!"

 

[NongreasySweatproof]

Well, I'm white, and I'm not a racist, so I can only go by that.

I'm NOT white (I prefer the word European--it's more precise and more scientific), and I think that it's ridiculous for racism to be associated with whiteness. Obviously, anyone can be racist, regardless of what ethnicity they are. Over the course of American history, the worst effects of racism have been felt by non-Europeans. Moreover, since "you guys" are the majority, you don't have to think about race nearly as much, aren't reminded on a daily basis of the fact that you're different, and racism has LESS power to hurt you just due to absolute numbers (i.e., if every minority person of a certain group looked down on a white person, it would have a smaller effect than every person in the majority looked down on a person from a smaller group).

But that doesn't mean that racism is a "white thing." Moreover, equating racism to whiteness is actually sort of racist against not just white people, but also nonwhites, but it's implying that somehow Europeans are the only people "without race," and therefore somehow separate (and above?) everyone else. Whiteness is just another shade of color--it's not the absence of something that everyone else is endowed with.

To speculate on what things would be like if you weren't gay is a huge metaphysical question. It's like saying, if you had been born ten years later, or ten years earlier, would you have been the same person? Or if a butterfly flapped its wings twice instead of once, would it lead to a hurricane a year from now? Everything would be different if you weren't exactly the person you are. Whole continents would move. Perhaps the earth wouldn't even exist, etc. It's just like in "Back to the Future."

 

[MadeUpName27]

If I had been born Straight, I probably would have become Homophobic, considering that I was raised in exactly the same environment as my Straight Homophobic Brother.

 

[teh_nathan]

I don't think my personality would change so it's certain that I wouldn't.

 

[TaigaStar]

I am straight, but obviously not homophobic... Actually, I'm rather a bit more heterophobic.

 

[justsimon]

I don't think I would be. I was raised by a very openminded family. My mom explained homosexuality to my brother and I when I was 5, right after my aunt marched us out of church in protest of a homophobic sermon (in front of the whole congregation).

 

[The_Reaper]

Nope.

I'm a civil rights person through and through, with a few exceptions when it comes to those who infringe on other's rights a.k.a. criminals.

Either way, I'd be just as strong a supporter for Same-Sex marriage, straight or gay.