"Fag." "Lesbo."
"That's gay." All I hear are those
hateful words. Those words make homophobia. But what
is homophobia? I've thought about that question
ever since I became a member of the gay-straight alliance at
my middle school. Homo is the Latin root for the word
same, and phobia is the fear of something. So it means
having fear of the same. But it's not just
having fear of the same sex; it's saying homophobic
slurs, or harassing a person because that person is
gay. You get the picture.
Homophobia is bad. It makes you feel scared. You
can't go out of your house without remembering
that you could be harassed for telling someone about
your sexual orientation. Homophobia is horrible. Some people
don't even know how discriminatory they are. A
few weeks ago I heard a college kid say
"That's gay." Then a 12-year-old kid
copied the guy by saying the same thing. The kid looks
up to the college guy. That's how homophobia grows.
There's nothing wrong with being gay.
It's just like being straight. Gay people
don't hurt anybody. When I think about how annoying
it is to hear these cruel slurs and how homophobia is
becoming bigger, I want to prevent it. I want to
prevent homophobic harassment. I bet that one day, if
someone is homophobic, she or he will be an outcast.
Homophobia will disappear once people start realizing
that the words "fag," "lesbo,"
and "that's gay" are completely ridiculous.
