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Definition: homophobia from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary

pronunciationpronunciation

(1969) : irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals

ho•mo•pho•bic \-॑fō-bik\ adj

Homophobia

From Encyclopedia of Gender and Society
Homophobia is defined as the irrational fear and hatred of gay men and lesbians. It combines the words homosexual and phobia, hence the definition related to panic or fear of people who are sexually attracted to a person of the same sex. Many people contend that the word heterosexism is a more accurate concept because fear or panic is not the problem as much as the power and privileging of heterosexual people over gay men, lesbians, and bisexual people. Heterosexism assumes that all people are and should be heterosexual and asserts that heterosexuality is normal, natural, and right. This entry discusses various aspects of homophobia. Homophobia is intimately related to sexism in that the denigration of the feminine is central to both. According to Suzanne Pharr in her work on homophobia as a weapon of sexism, homophobia works with heterosexism to enforce compulsory heterosexuality and the nuclear family. Political conservatives and religious fundamentalists criticize feminists and…
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Full text Article Homophobia

From World of Sociology, Gale
Homophobia is an ideological position and internalized fear based on the belief that to be gay or lesbian is inherently wrong. In its most vituperative form, people who are homophobic blame gay and lesbian people for various real and perceived social ill, from urban decay to sex on TV, and warn that…
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Full text Article Homophobia

From Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice
Homophobia refers to antigay attitudes or behaviors. Coined in the late 1960s by psychologist George Weinberg, the term is meant to encompass the fear, dislike, or hatred of gays and lesbians, of being perceived as gay, or of one's own gay desires or behaviors. Homophobia tends to exist most…
| 935 words
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Full text Article Homophobia

From Encyclopedia of Adolescence
The term homophobia describes an unreasonable apprehension of individuals who have same-sex sexual or romantic relationships, including individuals who appear to have a proclivity toward engaging in such relationships. Although the term can encompass many actions and beliefs, it tends to include at…
| 1,257 words
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Full text Article Homophobia

From Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology
Homophobia refers to antipathy toward persons who are thought to be gay, lesbian, homosexual, or deviant from gender stereotypes in ways that suggest a same-sex sexual orientation. It is a form of prejudice and may be related to harassment or violence toward persons thought to be homosexual. Most…
| 3,632 words
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Full text Article Homophobia

From AllSides Red Blue Dictionary
Many conservatives would say they do not suffer from homophobia, since they do not "fear homosexuals", while those maintaining more progressive viewpoints may use the term "homophobic" to describe any individual or community who does not view same-gendered romantic relationships as blessed by God. …
| 104 words
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Full text Article Homophobia in Hip Hop

From St. James Encyclopedia of Hip Hop Culture
JOHNNY NUNEZ/GETTY IMAGES Members of Brand Nubian...
The history of homophobia in hip hop is almost as long and complicated as the history of hip hop itself. From rap lyrics that deploy homophobic slurs to an industry and culture that often marginalizes lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer/questioning (LGBTQ) voices, hip hop is frequently denounced…
| 2,689 words , 1 image
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Full text Article INTERNALIZED HOMOPHOBIA

From Historical Dictionary of the Lesbian and Gay Liberation Movements
Self-hatred because one's sexual orientation is not acceptable to society and culture at large. This internalized homophobia may manifest itself in many ways, including suicide (30 percent of all youth suicides are due to questions of sexuality), alcohol and substance abuse to reduce or numb the…
| 100 words
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Full text Article Online Games and Racism, Sexism, and Homophobia

From The International Encyclopedia of Digital Communication and Society
abuse digital culture gender griefing hate speech race sexuality trolling Abstract Organized as a rough chronology, this entry covers the topics of racism, sexism, and homophobia within online games, starting with multi‐user dungeons ( MUD s) in the 1990s and moving through to the contemporaneous…
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Full text Article HOMOPHOBIA

From Historical Dictionary of the Lesbian and Gay Liberation Movements
| 90 words
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Full text Article homophobia

From The American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language
| 29 words
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