Homophobia: What it is and why it's wrong.

Homophobia is discrimination against people of the LGBTQ+ community. It is driven by many things. Experiences, beliefs, and just general hatred. I believe that homophobia is extremely wrong, and you should too. In this article, I will be convincing you why.

Firstly, homophobia disrespects and violates human rights of people in the LGBTQ+ community. In the Universal Declaration of human rights, Article 1 states that “everyone has the right to equality”. Meaning that anyone who denies that LGBTQ+ people are equal, is violating agreed upon human rights.

Secondly, this doesn’t change the fact that they are humans. There is a stereotype that people of the LGBTQ+ community have a certain attitude and personality. This is not true a lot of the time. You cannot tell if someone is part of the LGBTQ+ community by their attitude. Assuming someone's sexuality from the way they act is offensive and wrong. People can be exploring their sexuality, asking or assuming someone is in the LGBTQ+ community can be a sensitive and potentially upsetting topic for certain people, so, if you want to demonstrate equality, you should not bring up this topic about someone else without them bringing it up first, because you don’t know how they will feel about it.

Finally, it is worth considering what really constitutes an act of homophobia. Throughout time, it has been believed that homophobia is either abusing or committing a hate crime towards an LGBTQ+. However, in recent times, it has become so much more than that. Often, in the world the word “gay” has become a synonym for feminine. Many people describe things they don’t find “masculine” as “gay”. You may not believe it, but this is one of the worst acts of homophobia. It is reinforcing that there is a stereotype in the way that people from the LGBTQ+ community act.

In conclusion, despite the fact that there is more representation in today’s society of LGBTQ+, it has sadly led to more opportunities for homophobia over time. More ways to attack the members of the community than just slurs and hate crime.