Even knowing the etymology, for a long time I was puzzled why that term was used - it seemed that they hate gay people, not fear them. After meeting some homophobes, I was wrong. They are so utterly completely horrified by the idea of gay people existing to the level they start losing higher brain function.
Star Wars helped me.
“Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate.”
What men are afraid of is being gay. Sexuality research suggests that sexual preference is a spectrum, not a binary. So it’s common to have same sex attractions. Our culture will instill that being gay is the worst, before you even know what gay is. It’s also shockingly common for boys to be sexually victimized.
Many men question their sexuality. Now add in the nonsense of reactionary gender rolls with strict and rigid religious dogma and it’s no wonder. Being anti-gay is loudly signaling no-homo to the world.
This also explains why closeted gay reactionaries are the most zealous inquisitors. From their puzzle-piece perspective, indulging in gay sex is like openly committing a felony and getting away with it. Of course they hate the openly queer.
I’m glad to be claustrophobic so I’m only afraid of people called Claus and not all homo sapiens
Someone’s starting to find out about etymology.
Haha. It’s the opposite believe it or not.
I honestly was slightly toasted (still am), having a conversation with my daughter who just arrived in and I couldn’t remember “homophobic”.
I’m so old I did Latin in school.
We rolled around laughing when we figured out what I meant instead of homo-frightened.
There must be a joke somewhere about Hetero erectus.