While I don’t agree with everything you’ve said, THIS is indeed something I needed to hear from an objective observer. 
Why, oh WHY, have I wasted the last two years of my life on such a board? 
It’s not a topic one can discuss completely dispassionately here either.
Accusations of homophobia are tossed routinely at people who support civil unions, and I think that represents a failure to recognize the landscape of ideas.
It’s just a topic that all too easily gives way to disaster in discussion. Trying to discuss it impartially will last for awhile, but as with any issue that has real personal impact on individuals in a frequent and recurring manner, it will get heated too quickly and cut off alot of discussion.
It is interesting to consider homophobia as a real phobia, and not just a buzzword used to describe a set of political positions. Re: the pr0n study…I’ve seen homosexual porn (my good friend from HS and first-year college roommate was bi-sexual) and it never really turned me on, but it didn’t really bother me either. For instance, as a fan of the TV series Six Feet Under, I’ve come to just see two men kissing as a simple plot element pertaining to a relationship in the story. I think as this sort of thing becomes more and more common, it won’t be a big deal in that way anymore. It’s already sort of ho-hum.
Of course, it would be a little silly to ascribe all instances of objection to homosexuality as repressed homo-erotic arousal.
Good point, and let me say here that I don’t believe that all people who object to homosexuality are homophobic.
There are examples of people who oppose it for homophobic reasons; for example, if you are a “good” Catholic, Church dogma is that homosexual behavior but homosexuals must be loved as equally as heterosexuals. The position is effectively homophobic, while the person who holds it is not necessarily.
What I find upsetting is that, to ME, I can discuss homophobia without getting anxious in the least. But it’s like a boogeyman to some people, almost like a superstitious curse, like when people say, “if you say the name of the Devil, you invite him into your life…” :rolleyes: In the same way, just the mere pronunciation/spelling of the word “homophobia” upsets some people.
Reminds me of “liberals” who are afraid of seeing themselves as not-so-liberal.
This is exactly what we’re talking about.
How is a “position” homophobic? A phobia is an irrational fear; a belief or an idea can’t be fearful, in and of itself anymore than it can be happy or sad. When we say things like “believing in God is superstitious,” we’re anthropomorphizing into shorthand instead of saying “even though they may not be superstitious otherwise, they are insofar as they believe in God.”
(It’s the same thing we do when we say “a joyous day” or “a horrified scream.” Neither the day nor the scream possess emotions; we’re talking about the people involved.)
The Catholic church, AFAIK, IANAC, believes that the human sex drive exists primarily to reproduce. Since homosexuals cannot reproduce, they prohibit and condemn homosexual activity. Why is this belief inherently, necessarily and exclusively based in an irrational fear of homosexuals, as opposed to, say, just wanting people to marry and have kids so there’d be more Catholics?
You are correct, sir. This is also the reason for the opposition by “hardline” Catholicism to birth control. Sex is not for fun, but first and foremost procreation.