[Tom4784]

This reminds me of school, when there's a kid with Asthma and you'll get some other kids that are all like 'I want an inhaler! If he can have one then why can't I have one too?'. They obviously didn't need an inhaler, they just want one because someone else had one. They don't understand that they are lucky enough not to be asthmatic and thought that the asthmatic kid was getting special privileges when he obviously wasn't.

It's not too different from the those idiotic people that are all like 'why don't we get a white history month? Why isn't there a Straight Pride? Where are the Straight Clubs? FEMINISM?! WHY NOT MENINISM? 10,000000 men suffer every day under the tyrannical rule of vagina people!' Et cetera.

They see the small bright sides but do not understand the discrimination that comes along with it. So no, Heterophobia does not exist.

Can gay people be prejudiced? Absolutely, anyone can be prejudiced but to equate that to homophobia is just phenomenally idiotic.

[Glenn.]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

This reminds me of school, when there's a kid with Asthma and you'll get some other kids that are all like 'I want an inhaler! If he can have one then why can't I have one too?'. They obviously didn't need an inhaler, they just want one because someone else had one. They don't understand that they are lucky enough not to be asthmatic and thought that the asthmatic kid was getting special privileges when he obviously wasn't.

It's not too different from the those idiotic people that are all like 'why don't we get a white history month? Why isn't there a Straight Pride? Where are the Straight Clubs? FEMINISM?! WHY NOT MENINISM? 10,000000 men suffer every day under the tyrannical rule of vagina people!' Et cetera.

They see the small bright sides but do not understand the discrimination that comes along with it. So no, Heterophobia does not exist.

Can gay people be prejudiced? Absolutely, anyone can be prejudiced but to equate that to homophobia is just phenomenally idiotic.

Slay a bit

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

This reminds me of school, when there's a kid with Asthma and you'll get some other kids that are all like 'I want an inhaler! If he can have one then why can't I have one too?'. They obviously didn't need an inhaler, they just want one because someone else had one. They don't understand that they are lucky enough not to be asthmatic and thought that the asthmatic kid was getting special privileges when he obviously wasn't.

It's not too different from the those idiotic people that are all like 'why don't we get a white history month? Why isn't there a Straight Pride? Where are the Straight Clubs? FEMINISM?! WHY NOT MENINISM? 10,000000 men suffer every day under the tyrannical rule of vagina people!' Et cetera.

They see the small bright sides but do not understand the discrimination that comes along with it. So no, Heterophobia does not exist.

Can gay people be prejudiced? Absolutely, anyone can be prejudiced but to equate that to homophobia is just phenomenally idiotic.

I agree with this, although I have to say I never saw any kids that didn't have asthma looking for inhalers

[Smithy]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

This reminds me of school, when there's a kid with Asthma and you'll get some other kids that are all like 'I want an inhaler! If he can have one then why can't I have one too?'. They obviously didn't need an inhaler, they just want one because someone else had one. They don't understand that they are lucky enough not to be asthmatic and thought that the asthmatic kid was getting special privileges when he obviously wasn't.

It's not too different from the those idiotic people that are all like 'why don't we get a white history month? Why isn't there a Straight Pride? Where are the Straight Clubs? FEMINISM?! WHY NOT MENINISM? 10,000000 men suffer every day under the tyrannical rule of vagina people!' Et cetera.

They see the small bright sides but do not understand the discrimination that comes along with it. So no, Heterophobia does not exist.

Can gay people be prejudiced? Absolutely, anyone can be prejudiced but to equate that to homophobia is just phenomenally idiotic.

agree with everything, especially the BIB

[Samuel.]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

This reminds me of school, when there's a kid with Asthma and you'll get some other kids that are all like 'I want an inhaler! If he can have one then why can't I have one too?'. They obviously didn't need an inhaler, they just want one because someone else had one. They don't understand that they are lucky enough not to be asthmatic and thought that the asthmatic kid was getting special privileges when he obviously wasn't.

It's not too different from the those idiotic people that are all like 'why don't we get a white history month? Why isn't there a Straight Pride? Where are the Straight Clubs? FEMINISM?! WHY NOT MENINISM? 10,000000 men suffer every day under the tyrannical rule of vagina people!' Et cetera.

They see the small bright sides but do not understand the discrimination that comes along with it. So no, Heterophobia does not exist.

Can gay people be prejudiced? Absolutely, anyone can be prejudiced but to equate that to homophobia is just phenomenally idiotic.

To equate the idiots who think they want to be oppressed and "special" to those arguing that heterophobia can exist in this thread is no less phenomenally idiotic.

[kirklancaster]

Originally Posted by Samuel.

To equate the idiots who think they want to be oppressed and "special" to those arguing that heterophobia can exist in this thread is no less phenomenally idiotic.

Correct.

I know a gay couple who run a Guest House in Blackpool, and I have stayed there for years when I visit Blackpool. They advertise in GT and Pink and other mags but also in non-gay newspapers in high season. Now I don't think that either of them actually hate or fear 'straight people (whatever that means) but they are prejudiced against them when it comes to taking bookings - preferring gays only.

[Smithy]

Originally Posted by kirklancaster

Correct.

I know a gay couple who run a Guest House in Blackpool, and I have stayed there for years when I visit Blackpool. They advertise in GT and Pink and other mags but also in non-gay newspapers in high season. Now I don't think that either of them actually hate or fear 'straight people (whatever that means) but they are prejudiced against them when it comes to taking bookings - preferring gays only.

Or targeting a specific niche market that could be turned away by straight homophobic business owners?

I'm actually laughing because literally every hotel is accepting of straight people then you had a hotel which accepts straight people but targets it's self to gay people and you're ****ing complaining. Why does everything have to be about straight people?

[kirklancaster]

Originally Posted by Smithy

Or targeting a specific niche market that could be turned away by straight homophobic business owners?

Could be Smithy.

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by Samuel.

To equate the idiots who think they want to be oppressed and "special" to those arguing that heterophobia can exist in this thread is no less phenomenally idiotic.

If that's the conclusion you've drawn from my post then it's fairly obvious that you've completely missed the point.

Heterophobia doesn't exist and it's an imaginary construct made up by the types of people that think Meninism and Reverse Racism is a thing.

Gay people can be prejudiced against straight people, just like they can be prejudiced against themselves, transgendered people, bisexuals etc but that's not comparable to Homophobia. You are arguing that gay people can be prejudiced and that's true but heterophobia is not a thing.

[Samuel.]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

If that's the conclusion you've drawn from my post then it's fairly obvious that you've completely missed the point.

Heterophobia doesn't exist and it's an imaginary construct made up by the types of people that think Meninism and Reverse Racism is a thing.

Gay people can be prejudiced against straight people, just like they can be prejudiced against themselves, transgendered people, bisexuals etc but that's not comparable to Homophobia. You are arguing that gay people can be prejudiced and that's true but heterophobia is not a thing.

There was little in your post other than dismissive and patronising generalisations that don't actually relate to anyone in this thread.

Homophobia starts at an individual level. It's widespread nature is what makes it a major social issue. Quite clearly it isn't a major social issue for straight people, but there absolutely can be heterophobia at an individual level.

At some point this becomes a debate over a definition, in which case the actual word to describe the prejudice doesn't actually matter. It can and no doubt does exist, and whatever you call it isn't important.

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by Samuel.

There was little in your post other than dismissive and patronising generalisations that don't actually relate to anyone in this thread.

Homophobia starts at an individual level. It's widespread nature is what makes it a major social issue. Quite clearly it isn't a major social issue for straight people, but there absolutely can be heterophobia at an individual level.

At some point this becomes a debate over a definition, in which case the actual word to describe the prejudice doesn't actually matter. It can and no doubt does exist, and whatever you call it isn't important.

Pray tell, when did I say that my post related to anyone in this thread? I didn't, you just assumed so. I'm just going to be as equally dismissive towards the rest of this post as you have been to mine. Heterophobia does not exist.

[JoshBB]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

This reminds me of school, when there's a kid with Asthma and you'll get some other kids that are all like 'I want an inhaler! If he can have one then why can't I have one too?'. They obviously didn't need an inhaler, they just want one because someone else had one. They don't understand that they are lucky enough not to be asthmatic and thought that the asthmatic kid was getting special privileges when he obviously wasn't.

It's not too different from the those idiotic people that are all like 'why don't we get a white history month? Why isn't there a Straight Pride? Where are the Straight Clubs? FEMINISM?! WHY NOT MENINISM? 10,000000 men suffer every day under the tyrannical rule of vagina people!' Et cetera.

They see the small bright sides but do not understand the discrimination that comes along with it. So no, Heterophobia does not exist.

Can gay people be prejudiced? Absolutely, anyone can be prejudiced but to equate that to homophobia is just phenomenally idiotic.

Amazingly put.

[user104658]

I don't know, some people are so caught up in semantics and "buzz" terminology that they can't think logically when it comes to these topics, it seems.

If a phobia is an irrational fear of something (true) and there is such a thing in the world - anywhere in the world - as an irrational fear of heterosexuals (also true) then it MUST be true, by simple rules of logic, that Hetero phobia exists.

Where people seem to be getting all caught up is in the idea that "heterophobia" and "homophobia" must then be equivalent, in terms of severity and consequence.

That is not implied anywhere at all in the above logic, it arises purely from preconception so it's not really relevant. Heterophobia and Homophobia can exist without lessening the severity of homophobia and the damage it does to people's lives. Both can exist whilst acknowledging that one is far worse than the other.

This is also what applies with racism. Has a white individual ever found them self discriminated against, even killed, for the colour of their skin alone? Of course they have, it's indisputable, and it's indisputable that such a crime is a racist hate crime. Is that the same as denying that white people, in general, have a much easier ride than other ethnicities? Nope! You can, through the powers of elaboration, accept both as true.

Part of me wonders if this is all the fault of the twitter generation, having to communicate everything in a couple of words with catchy "hashtags" and therefore having to have individual words and terms that carry such a solid and inflexible definition (which is usually not even the dictionary definition, but rather, a hijacked social definition).

If people would just commit to using a few more words to explain themselves then maybe it wouldn't be as much of an issue.

[Kizzy]

I'll have a go at this logic thing...

If you are heterosexual and consider yourself homophobic it may be because you have never encountered gay people and have all the associated misconceptions, fear and prejudice.

Can that be applied to gay people that they have never had or observed a positive experience with heterosexual people, and that has manifested into heterophobia?

[Glenn.]

Nothing can manifest itself into heterophobia because it doesn't exist. I find it appalling that people can think it does.

Sorry straight people. Sorry you've had such a hard time being straight. I'll let the teenage boys and girls know your troubles after they've been discharged from hospital from the beatings they received for being who they are.

[RichardG]

I might be wrong (correct me if I am) but reading through the thread it seems to me that not a single person has equated heterophobia to homophobia, pretended straight people are oppressed, pretended straight people are getting beat up and abandoned by families or made a big deal out of it at all. And I would agree with all of that. It is not at all a 'problem' in society, that much I'm sure we can all agree on. I don't think I ever would've even thought about it if this question wasn't posted.

In my opinion I think that it's inevitable that some people somewhere out there will hold heterophobic/'anti straight' views, there's people who hate all sorts of people for all sorts of reasons and if even only a small number of people thought like that then on a technical level yes it must surely exist. It is however obviously an entirely different concept to the direct opposite and so in this specific case you could argue 'heterophobic' is the wrong word to use to describe this obscure "phobia"/whatever you want to call it.

Originally Posted by Samuel.

At some point this becomes a debate over a definition, in which case the actual word to describe the prejudice doesn't actually matter. It can and no doubt does exist, and whatever you call it isn't important.

[lostalex]

The key is the word phobia i guess, which has been pointed out many times in this thread means IRRATIONAL fear.

Considering the history of straight people oppressing, raping, assaulting, murdering gay people, is it really irrational to fear it will happen to you? no, it's actually very rational because it happens all the time, every day on this planet. so it's not heterophobia, it's a totally justified fear of straight people.

For a straight person to fear gay people though, i can't think of any history of gay people forming large groups and oppressing, raping, assaulting, murdering lots of straight people/ so for a straight person to fear gay people is in fact Irrational, because it has no basis in reality. therefore it is rightly called a phobia, because it's irrational.

[Ammi]

..I was in the middle of making a post and then realised I don't have time ....so just think yourselves all lucky.....because it was going to be long I think...anyway, some great posts in the thread from opposing opinions... from TS, Dezzy, Sam and Liam especially...

[Northern Monkey]

Originally Posted by lostalex

The key is the word phobia i guess, which has been pointed out many times in this thread means IRRATIONAL fear.

Considering the history of straight people oppressing, raping, assaulting, murdering gay people, is it really irrational to fear it will happen to you? no, it's actually very rational because it happens all the time, every day on this planet. so it's not heterophobia, it's a totally justified fear of straight people.

For a straight person to fear gay people though, i can't think of any history of gay people forming large groups and oppressing, raping, assaulting, murdering lots of straight people/ so for a straight person to fear gay people is in fact Irrational, because it has no basis in reality. therefore it is rightly called a phobia, because it's irrational.

Good point!

[bots]

What I see on this thread are views where people put down the concept of heterophobia as ridiculous, but only seem to be doing so because they believe by acknowledging that it could possibly exist it is in some way devaluing homophobia. The amusing thing to me is the outrage that would ensue if I were to say that in a similar vein homophobia did not exist.

What harm does it do to anyone to acknowledge the possibility that heterophobia could exist? To me there seems to be an irrational fear that it could exist as a concept.

[kirklancaster]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

What I see on this thread are views where people put down the concept of heterophobia as ridiculous, but only seem to be doing so because they believe by acknowledging that it could possibly exist it is in some way devaluing homophobia. The amusing thing to me is the outrage that would ensue if I were to say that in a similar vein homophobia did not exist.

What harm does it do to anyone to acknowledge the possibility that heterophobia could exist? To me there seems to be an irrational fear that it could exist as a concept.

Superbly written BitOnTheSlide and true. I agree totally because that's exactly what it's beginning to look like.

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

What I see on this thread are views where people put down the concept of heterophobia as ridiculous, but only seem to be doing so because they believe by acknowledging that it could possibly exist it is in some way devaluing homophobia. The amusing thing to me is the outrage that would ensue if I were to say that in a similar vein homophobia did not exist.

What harm does it do to anyone to acknowledge the possibility that heterophobia could exist? To me there seems to be an irrational fear that it could exist as a concept.

but how could it exist? gay people have totally justified reasons for fearing heterosexuals, so there's nothing irrational about that.

There is absolutely nothing in history to give straight people a rational reason to fear homosexuals. some would say religion, but religion itself is irrational.

what is an irrational fear of straight people? that they will round you up and kill you? rape you? torture you? it's not irrational because it happens every single day all around the world.

[user104658]

Originally Posted by lostalex

but how could it exist? gay people have totally justified reasons for fearing heterosexuals, so there's nothing irrational about that.

There is absolutely nothing in history to give straight people a rational reason to fear homosexuals. some would say religion, but religion itself is irrational.

what is an irrational fear of straight people? that they will round you up and kill you? rape you? torture you? it's not irrational because it happens every single day all around the world.

Phobias almost always have a root cause or trauma, though. They don't just appear out of thin air. I guess the mistake here is in thinking that "irrational" and "unfounded" mean the same thing, when they don't.

Fearing Gentle Bob The Straight Guy Who Wouldn't Harm a Fly because there is a history of widespread discrimination and violence against homosexuals in the world is not unfounded - it's even understandable - however that doesn't make it rational (i.e. Based in logic).

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

What I see on this thread are views where people put down the concept of heterophobia as ridiculous, but only seem to be doing so because they believe by acknowledging that it could possibly exist it is in some way devaluing homophobia. The amusing thing to me is the outrage that would ensue if I were to say that in a similar vein homophobia did not exist.

What harm does it do to anyone to acknowledge the possibility that heterophobia could exist? To me there seems to be an irrational fear that it could exist as a concept.

Not really, I just find the concept of straight people complaining about 'Heterophobia' ridiculous when they're considered the norm and they've never had to fight for equal rights and have never been at risk for simply being who they are. I think it was said earlier in the thread somewhere but someone made a good point about the fact that Racism and Homophobia is linked to a sense of superiority and disliking what isn't considered the norm which doesn't really equate to the idea of heterophobia.

At best, it's prejudice but heterophobia does not exist.

[user104658]

Having given it some additional thought, I have realised that I think part of the problem is the use of the word "homophobia" in the first place. It's a bit of a misnomer. Most serious discrimination against homosexuals comes from a place of anger and righteousness, not fear at all (although the certain fears are embedded in there often, that's true) and so when people talk about the widespread and sometimes systemic abuse that homosexuals have experienced - that goes far beyond a "phobia" in the strictest sense of the word.

The worry seems to be that acknowledging hetero phobia takes something away from "homophobia" but it's simply probably the other way around: the word homophobia doesn't do enough to describe the issues that homosexuals individuals and couples face in the first place.