Meanings of the words:
homophobe & homophobia

Sponsored link.

Overview:

English is a very imprecise language. There are often single words or phrases that have multiple meanings. Within the field of religion, many faith groups have existed largely in isolation from others. They have assigned a multitude of often unrelated and sometimes mutually exclusive meanings to a single word. For example, there are about 17 different definitions of "Witch", seven of "cult" and five or six of "Pagan." This leads to massive misunderstanding. It makes dialog almost impossible. "Homophobia" is another example of a single term with many different meanings.

The word "homophobia" was invented by George Weinbert who defined it as "the dread of being in close quarters with homosexuals." It grew to mean a general "fear of homosexuals or of homosexual behavior." But the English language is in a continuous state of flux. Words develop different meanings as people develop new consensuses on their definition. This is why older translations of the Bible (e.g. the King James Bible of 1611 CE) are difficult for many people to read.

The many meanings of "Homophobia" and similar terms:

Most people agree that the following four terms have dual meanings -- one relating to feelings and another relating to action:

Sometimes these words are used to refer to a feeling. A person who believes that women are intrinsically inferior to men (or vice versa) is sometimes referred to as a sexist -- a person who exhibits sexism. Other times, the same word is used to refer to an action: a person who actively discriminates against women (or men) as a group. One can only infer which definition is in use within a given speech or report from the context in which the word is used. Sometimes, this is not easy to do.

The word "homophobia" is is even more confusing. This single word is hopelessly inadequate to cover the full range of people's negative beliefs and actions about individuals of minority sexual orientations and sexual behaviors.

Different meanings assigned to this word are:

Unfortunately, there is only one word, "homophobia" in general use. And it is rapidly becoming a "snarl" word like racism and sexism.

Unfortunately, the precise meaning that a person assigns to "homophobia" is often not obvious. Sometimes a person will switch from one definition to another in the middle of an essay or speech. Many individual and groups fit two or more of the above definitions at the same time; others fit only one. In an ideal world, we would have a different word for each of the above definitions. But it is not easy to create new and acceptable words in English. Until we do, the result will be chaotic.

There is a consensus that a homophobe is a person who exhibits homophobia; homophobic is an adjective. However, there is no consensus about what the term homophobe itself means.

Concerns by conservative Christians:

Many conservative Christians see themselves as loving the homosexual while hating homosexual behavior (and, rarely, hating homosexual orientation).

They interpret the half-dozen or so biblical passages which involve same-sex sexual behavior as condemning all homosexual behavior. They feel that their beliefs and practices are Biblically based and thus not only acceptable but compulsory to all Christians who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible. They deeply resent being called homophobes, which they consider a a swear word, for simply carrying out what they believe is the Word of God. In the same way, many conservative Christians object to being called sexist because follow teachings from the Hebrew Scriptures and the Epistles of Paul by opposing equality of opportunity and authority to women in commerce, industry, education, the military, the church, the family, etc. In the same way, Southern Baptists, and many others, during the 19th century resented being condemned for what they considered their moral, biblical stand in favor of slavery. Also, many Christians in the American South supported racial segregation on biblical grounds in the middle of the 20^th century, and objected to being called racists.

The English language obviously lacks precision. What is badly needed is a group of words to describe each of the forms that negative reaction to homosexuality takes:

Unfortunately, such words do exist at this time. Until they do, dialog will continue to be difficult and many hard feelings will propagate.

The definitions that we use on this web site:

In our web site, we choose to define these words in terms of actions, not beliefs:

But generally, in order to avoid confusion and to minimize the number of hate Emails, we will avoid the use of all three terms.

References:

1. "St. Augustine's Letter 211," translated in J.-P. Migne (ed.) "Patrologiae Latinae" Volume 33, (1845).
2. David R.W. Wadsworth, "Love the sinner but not the sin" at: http://www.voy.com/
3. Jim Rudd, "Healing Homophobia," 2004-MAR-29, at: http://www.covenantnews.com/
4. June M. Reinisch, "The Kinsey Institute New Report on Sex," St. Martin's Press, (1990), Page 147.

Copyright © 1998 to 2005 Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2005-MAR-24
Author: B.A. Robinson