INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA(IDAHO)

 

What is homophobia?

There is no single definition for the term ‘homophobia’, as it covers a wide range of different viewpoints and attitudes. Homophobia is generally defined as hostility towards or fear of gay people, but can also refer to social ideologies which stigmatise homosexuality.  Furthermore a collection of negative feelings or attitudes towards non-heterosexual behaviour, identity, relationships and community, can lead to homophobic behaviour. This is the root of the discrimination experienced by many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) people. Homophobia manifests itself in different forms, for example homophobic jokes, physical attacks, discrimination in the workplace and negative media representation.

 

Causes of Homophobia

In contrast to most phobias, it is widely believed that homophobia is primarily caused by a person’s direct environment rather then an inherent view held within them or any series of traumatic events. Here are the most common demographics that have reported the highest levels of homophobia:

• Older men
• Low levels of education
• Religious
• Supportive of traditional gender roles
• Politically conservative
• Residing in a geographic area where tolerance of same-sex marriages are incredibly low (Southern regions of the United States, for example)

Homophobia is usually viewed in a socially negative context; gay men and women do not see themselves as making a choice in their relationship patterns but rather are born with a different sexual preference. This routes back to the idea that, even though hating a specific group of people will usually be viewed as morally wrong, it is unfair to hate a person based on a decision they are not capable of making (sex, race, sexual preference, etc.). While a person that is unsupportive of homosexual relationships may be entitled to their opinion, homophobia is commonly known for extending beyond the boundaries of the mind. This usually leads to separate issues like segregation, discrimination or even acts of physical violence

Homophobia in South Africa
 

Gruesome sexual violence against lesbians has become so common in South Africa that it has its own macabre label: “corrective rape.” This term refers to the fact that many of its victims are told by their perpetrators that they are being raped to cure them of their supposedly unnatural sexual orientation. The exact number of such victims is unknown, but there are weekly reports here of violence against sexual minorities. In May, Human Rights Watch called this slew of hate crimes an “epidemic.”

 

This is not just a shocking reality; it’s also a great social and legal puzzle if you consider just how progressive South African laws are on issues of sex and sexuality. South Africa was the first country in the world to put a constitutional ban on discrimination by any individual or institution, private or public, on the basis of sexual orientation. This prohibition, coupled with another provision in the 1996 Constitution committing to promote dignity and substantive equality for all, has spawned a very progressive jurisprudence on gay rights.

 

 In South Africa today gay couples can marry and jointly adopt children; they are entitled to the same benefits as their heterosexual counterparts, whether married or not. In a recent landmark judgment, the constitutional court ruled that no one could be held civilly liable for calling or depicting someone else as gay. Being portrayed as a homosexual, the logic goes, simply is not a legally recognizable harm.