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Article: How Homophobia Hurts Everyone

A phobia is an irrational fear. It can affect otherwise healthy people in a variety of ways. A person can dread stepping into an elevator, or break into a cold sweat at the thought of boarding an airplane. Any phobia can be debilitating. Homophobia is an intense, irrational fear of gay people. It is a two-sided tragedy. Those of us who fear or hate gay men and lesbians usually don’t think we “know” any, even though there may be a number of people with whom we work, socialize, or even live who are lesbian or gay. Concurrently, many gay and lesbian people spend their lives “in the closed,” fearing that homophobia will destroy their self-respect, and according to Warren J. Blumenfeld, homophobia poses a direct threat to ‘traditional family values,(272)’ even thei...

Posted by: Sheryl Hogges

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