Homophobia Is Never Justified

As Pride Month goes on, I would like to address common excuses used to "justify" homophobia and transphobia.

1. 'The Bible says 'Man shall not lay with man'.'

Yes, the Bible does say "Man shall not lay with man." However, this passage was lost in translation. Originally in Greek, the sentence was "Man shall not lay with boy." Yet, when translated into English, homophobic people use this as an excuse to discriminate. Actually, the Greek, indigenous version refers to pedophilia. Man—referring to an adult. Boy—referring to a minor, incapable of consent to sexual activity. So really, "Man shall not lay with man" is stating that the Bible does not condone pedophilia.

2. 'You don't feel attraction? That's unnatural!'

Aromanticism and asexuality are not unnatural. Neither is anyone on the ace spectrum. Why would you hate someone for not feeling the need to have sex? Or if someone doesn't experience romantic feelings? That shouldn't be an issue. Stop saying it's a mental illness! There is nothing wrong with ace-spectrum people!

3. 'Procreation! If everyone was gay then our species would die off!'

Let me remind you that sex is not necessary to reproduce. Artificial insemination is the process of introducing sperm into someone's uterus or cervix. Oh, look—that's a way people can reproduce! Besides, right now we are going through an overpopulation crisis. The world population as of July 1, 2018, was over 7.6 billion! That is a couple billion more than the expected ideal world population. And last time I checked, not everyone was gay. That's the whole point. There are so many sexualities that people don't recognize or validate.

4. 'There are only two genders!'

There are a lot more than two genders. Gender and sex are different. Your sex typically refers to what you were born as, while your gender refers to what you feel you are. Some people don't feel they have a gender, other people feel they have more than one gender. If that isn't enough, many scientists are on board with this topic and explaining the science of different genders.

5. 'That doesn't exist! You're making that up!'

This is typically directed at nonbinary people. Nonbinary is an umbrella term for genderqueer, bigender, genderfluid, demi girl, demi boy, agender, and more. Yes, all of these identities exist. Yes, you can have more than one gender. Some people don't have gender. It's true that there weren't people who used these labels a couple hundred years ago. But that doesn't mean this generation invented these identities. People in this modern age are just having the courage to come out as who they are and add labels if they so desire. We didn't make anything up.

6. 'You're too young to know who you are! It's just a phase!'

So, when did you know you were straight? Did you become straight because you saw two heterosexual people kissing? Why are you straight? When do you think you'll get out of this whole "straight" phase? How do you even know you're actually straight? I told you already, you better knock it off being all straight before you tear this family apart! Are there any, uh, ya know... heterosexuals in your family? You're not straight enough, you don't even have the haircut for it! So which one of you heterosexuals is the girl in the relationship? Can you guys please not hold hands—this is a public park! We don't want these children turning straight! How many times do I have to tell you that being straight is disgusting?

That sounds absolutely ridiculous, right? Exactly. Replace the word "straight" and "heterosexual" with "gay." Tell me how that sounds.

These are only a few sayings. Unfortunately, there are so many more. All in all, the point is that there is never justification for being homophobic or transphobic. If you are ignorant of the topics revolving around the LGBTQ+ community, ask someone to explain! Also, remember: it is never ok to out someone without their permission!