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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Poet who wrote (22871)	8/18/2001 1:29:22 PM
From: The Philosopher	Respond to of 82486

I saw the post. I responded to it, but probably not the part you were referring me to it to read. And that post still doesn't answer my question. But it gives me a basis for narrowing it down for you. Chooseanother referred to two categories of people: " there is a difference between those who are "afraid" of queers and those who hate them, or sneer at them because they belief they are going to that place they call hell." I expect it's clear that you would term the second group homophobes. I'm not clear whether you would also call the first group homophobes. There are many other approaches to homosexuality. Just a few: Those who find the whole thing distasteful, and prefer not to talk or read about it, in the say way that certain people here on SI find PDAs distasteful and prefer not to talk or read about it. Not hatred, just avoidance. Those who think the whole thing is overblown, and all the "gay pride" stuff is silliness like bra burning was twenty year ago. Those who think there are a lot of other social problems that are far more important and resent gays for diverting so much societal energy and concern into what really is a self-esteem issue. Those who have nothing against gays as persons, in fact may be very sympathetic toward them individually, but think homosexuality is personally destructive behavior, like alcoholism (which is also a behavior based on a genetic component) and feel that rather than enabling we should be helping them overcome their problem. Those are a few, there are lots more. What I have no idea is which of these groups you would call homophobic and which you would not, and why. And why as a linguist and poet you would use a psudeo-medical term which purports to call somebody mentally ill if in fact you mean something quite different.