By: Paul, Nadia and Mark
He brings out the ‘gay’ in me is one of
the many utterances by ‘straight’ men on why they become anti-gays or
homophobic. “I’m just afraid that I might be gay myself”, said *Andrew when
asked why he hated gays so much. Why does that scare you? “I don’t know, men
are supposed to be tough and strong you know?” Walking on the street as an open
homosexual has often attracted unwanted stares and whispers. Living as a
homosexual in this cruel society that is yet to be able to accept
homosexuality, knowing who is against you and who is not gives leverage. Here
are 5 ways to spot a homophobe.
1. The Look
Whether they are aware of it or not, as
humans it is a normal tendency to give a ‘look’ when encountered with a person
we dislike. In most cases regarding homophobes, the number 1 tell-tale sign to
know if someone is a homophobe or not is that they will give a kind of ‘look’
these looks can can range from annoyed to disgusted to just completely
horrified. “They just keep making this face when I ask what their thoughts are
on gay men” said *Neil “And they just give me this annoyed face like I did
something wrong”.
Your pick
Photo:
http://www.empoweringchangeblog.com/blog/vlogging-challenge-day-7-how-to-release-negative-emotions-3-steps-i-use
2. Avoidance
Most homophobes tend to avoid gay men
whenever possible. Whether it is avoiding physical contact or just simply
avoiding being next to a gay man. The thought of being near a gay man just
sends shudders down their spine. “Sometimes people just walk off as if I have
some sort of disease or something” said *Neil.
Photo:http://www.empoweringchangeblog.com/blog/vlogging-challenge-day-7-how-to-release-negative-emotions-3-steps-i-use
3. Fall of
conversations
Speaking less is definitely another sign
of a homophobic person where yes and no answers are much at play here. A
misconception is that every gay guy will hit on a guy regardless if they are
gay or not. Therefore men who are homophobic prefer to talk less when
encountering a gay man in fear that they gay man will get the wrong message.
Wrong message here meaning that the gay man may feel that they straight man is
interested in him. “Gay men love to flirt, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to
bring every guy I meet home.” says *Neil. I think that says a lot.
4. Denial
Mode
Denying that you aren’t a homophobe is
actually one of the biggest signs that you are. But of course this doesn’t
apply to everyone because some may actually not be a homophobe. Hesitant to
reply whether you are a homophobe or not with words like “Urm”
“Maybe” “I think” makes it pretty obvious already. Either you want to cover up
the fact that you are indeed homophobic but afraid to admit it or deep inside
you, there is a part of you that is not really truly sure if you can in fact
accept gay men.
Urmm I think so
Photo: http://www.whicheb5.com/blog/confused-by-your-choice-of-eb-5-visa-regional-center-programs/
5. Joking
around
Whether we realise it or not making fun
of gay men whether intentional or not will some way make us a bit homophobic.
Sometimes at the utterance of “Hey Pondan” there is some part small part of us
that does make us a homopbobe.
Whether we like to admit it or not,
homophobia is an on-going issue that is still going on to this day. No matter
how advance we are in the world today, being a gay man is definitely not a walk
in the park. So the next time when encountering a gay man whether we are
pro-gay or an anti we should always bear in mind
that they too are just humans like the rest of us and we should always be aware
of how we treat them and the effect that it might have. Remember they too have
feelings.
*Names were changed due to privacy
concern
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