The denial of equal rights for gays is inexcusable. There is absolutely no justification for it. Homophobia seems to be entirely based on religion or sexual insecurity or both.
The ugly face of homophobia is visible in the vicious and disgusting campaign by the assistant attorney general of the state of Michigan against the president of the University of Michigan student council, as seen in this CNN interview (via Pharyngula.)
One can see within seconds that this guy is a really nasty piece of work. What drives people like this to obsess about other people’s sexuality? This guy is positively creepy.
Certain segments of the population seem to be much more homophobic than others. The Christian Science Monitor has an article that says that the allegations that Eddie Long, the anti-gay head of a megachurch in Atlanta, used his influence to entice four young men to perform sex acts on him, has brought the silent issue of rampant homophobia in the black community to the surface.
The number of prominent, religious, obsessively anti-gay people who turn out to be themselves closeted gays is quite impressive.
I think our host is too polite to cite the obvious explanation. Time and time again people like this have turned out to be closet cases. The emotional energy behind their obsession comes from self-hatred.
It’s incomprehensible that this sicko stalker has STILL not been fired as of this moment. In a just world his boss, who is running for governor, would be punished for that by the voters.
Meanwhile, in just the past 3 weeks there have been four well-publicized suicides of gay teenagers. Our society has a long way to go to purge the deadly poison of homophobia (the principal font of which is religion).
Well, yeah, Mano did make that point in his last sentence. I’m duly chastised.