Choose an option from the poll.
As opposed to some other kind of evil?
Oh, oops. I thought it was asking about homosexuality.
You sure like these public polls.
Creating polls is kind of fun. 
I had to vote “no” because of the “and” clause. I don’t think every last homophobic person is evil. I certainly do think it’s a social evil, and I think very little of people who are homophobic in this day and age, but I’d rather say “ignorant” or “nasty” or “struggling with their own sexuality in a particularly unhelpful way.”
Hmmm … I chose not to participate. My answers to the pieces of the compound would be ‘yes’ and ‘no’, with the caveat that some homophobes are undoubtedly evil, being human, and evil may be more common amongst that group than in the general population. But then those two get combined into one conjunction, so by the rules of logic the answer would have to be ‘no’, which I find misleading. So my vote is, ‘write a better poll question’.
It’s the public part you seem enamoured of that caught my eye.
According to this website, it looks like “social evil” means “anything detrimental to a society or its citizens” and then goes on to listing examples and et cetera.
I first heard the term “social evil” from a history textbook that was talking about the social evils in 19th century America and organizations that evolved to address those social concerns. I hope that I am using the term correctly in this context.
Yeah, I don’t think it makes you de facto evil. Any sort of prejudice certainly doesn’t help your character, but there’s always so many variables to consider.
Exactly. I want to make room for the poor slob who thinks “Ew, two guys kissing! Bleah!” but doesn’t act on those emotions! The guy who is squicked out by gay sex, but still votes for choice in marriage. The guy whose aesthetic is straight-only, but who would never impose his views on others. Such a guy is homophobic…but is far from evil.
(Sigh… Yes, I am that guy.)
I said maybe becuse some people are just ignorant.
This has to win a prize as the worst-thought-out poll ever.
Not voting because the way the question is phrased makes it impossible to answer the way I want to. I’d say yes, homophobia is a social evil, but a homophobic person is not necessarily evil. Many homophobic people are just ignorant, stupid, or the product of a homophobic upbringing.
I’d say he’s not even homophobic. As long as this guy doesn’t have a problem with gay people, he’s not homophobic. He’s entitled to his own opinion about how hot/gross gay sex is, as long as he’s not a jerk about it.
I am flattered. Based on the responses I got from “Are there evil people?”, I knew that this kind of question would be tricky. This question is actually composed of two separate questions, and put them together in one, can cause a lot of confusion. Call me a “troll”, but I find people’s responses to the question a lot more amusing than the content of the responses.
It’s interesting to see that some people would see no difference between those two questions and vote “Yes” on both, and some people (who have posted in this thread) do see an obvious difference and point it out. 
Disagree pretty strongly here. It’s not like this attitude came as a part of a natural dislike for it, then way some people are super grossed out at eating their greens or something. I mean I suppose it might have been, but there’s too much cultural background noise suggesting that gay sex is gross (or at least less valid than straight sex) to ignore that side of things. It’s homophobic.
That said, homophobia in itself is of course a bad thing. Evil is kind of a loaded term and not really useful in this context since the truth is we’re all a little homophobic (thanks, culture) in some ways. Note that having a homophobic thought here or there due to enculturation is not the same as being an outright bigot. Once we start with the premise that only outright homophobes have any kind of homophobic notions, we let people get away with all sorts of little things that are harmful to GLBT as a whole, but that the person expressing them probably isn’t even aware of.
Outright bigotry is undoubtedly morally negative.
I said no, particuarly because the term homophobia is a loaded one that started with “hating gays” and now is “not being absolutely 100% pro-gay in everything”.
I voted “yes” but I’d have much preferred a more nuanced set of options. How does the person act (or not act) on their “homophobia”? Is it based on ignorance due to life circumstances they have little control over, or is it a willful refusal to understand the nature of other human beings? The answers to those questions could quite possibly change my response to the poll.
Still, would people be tempted to vote anything but “yes” if the phenomenon under discussion was racism rather than homophobia? I doubt it, and bigotry is bigotry, whether it is based on skin color, sexual orientation, or any other fundamental aspect of being human.
I appreciate your contribution. Your contribution, I find, is very thought-provoking. Out of curiosity, would you consider a person – who writes anti-gay sentiments in his or her diary but never shares them with anyone because he or she fears that he or she will be labelled a “bigot” – would you consider that kind of person be “homophobic”? Can you specify what qualifies as a homophobic reaction? Let’s say we have an imaginary case: George and his mother. The mother asks George about the future, like if he’s going to get married or not. George replies that he shall remain single. The claim sends a signal to the mother, who then replies that she does not want her son to remain single forever or become gay. George, however, never has questioned his sexuality, for he’s a super geeky guy and cares about computer and software than about relationships and stuff. So, he remains silent on the issue. If George feels disgust for the gay lifestyle because he knows that his mother will disapprove of it, then is that homophobic or not?
Anything that begins with the assumption that heterosexuality is superior or “normal” and homosexuality is inferior, wrong, or other.
I don’t understand why this detailed scenario is necessary. George feeling disgust for gays is homophobic. It’s more benign than if he was actively trying to oppress gay people, or what not, but it’s still a homophobic thought process.