Tory MEP Claims homophobia is propaganda and does not exist

[marshlander]

I didn't know that Fred, I thought hydrophobia was something to do with rabies.

Great start ... today has not been wasted. I've learned something new mile:

[Shadow]

In my opinion, the word homophobia is miss-used, it suggests "Irrational fear" like a fear of spiders, while what they use the word to represent is more of an "irrational hatred" or "irrational ignorance" of homosexuality.

So yea, homophobia may not exist, but for what the word is used to "represent", is more than a little real.

I agree - the term "phobia" seems to have been extended in modern times to include an irrational dislike or hatred of things. Perhaps an "anti-" prefix would have been better such as when people described the actions of Nazi Germany in WWII towards the Jews as being "anti-semitic".

Just to throw my tuppence back into the general discussion, whilst I understand that it is lamentably within a politician's remit to spout off about a great many things they seem to know virtually nothing about in order to garner support and popularity and raise awareness of the issues for which they campaign, I cannot help but think such ignorance invariably does more harm than good.

It's easy to turn a blind eye to the suffering of others when you're in the key "norm" demographic, but the sad truth is that whether he chooses to see it or not, MOST of us have witnessed homosexuals being singled-out and victimised on a number of levels for simply being gay.

Whilst I agree that there are some homosexuals that take things to the extreme, we have consistently, as a minority, HAD to fight to gain even the most minor of benefits, and are STILL only working our way towards what many "normal" people would automatically take as of right.

As I see it we're taxed the same, we work to the same laws and under the same rules, and stick to the same requirements, why ought we not be treated the same ?

*Shadow descends from his soapbox*

!?!?! Shadow !?!?!

P.s. Much of my post IS in variable case, but for some reason it's only displaying in lowercase at the moment !! Straaaaaange.