Homophobia

[nintendofan85]

Hey guys, I had an awkward situation today...
Yesterday, one of my cousins passed away (which I mentioned on here that morning), and the funeral was this afternoon. After the funeral, my family got together at another one of my cousins' (his sister) house to have lunch, and there, one of the guests (not a family member, but a friend of theirs) started talking about how awful it was that his niece left Mississippi to go to Massachusetts (which he claimed is a state filled with weirdos) and attended Harvard and apparently "became" a lesbian, and he used an offensive word for it at first which I will not state here.
This got my mom, who is actually against LGBT rights herself, to shush him, because one of my cousins whom we're close with is a lesbian herself, and we don't judge her at all (although I'm actually one of the few in my family that supports gay rights, as I'm bisexual myself).
And that, right there, has led to concern from myself. I don't feel like I should come out to my family that I'm bi because even though my cousin isn't judged, LGBT rights here in Mississippi are a very sensitive subject and it doesn't have many supporters here. Have any of you had to deal with homophobia where you live?

 

[Hopeless Opus]

well florida is pretty homophobic so yeah, i'm around it almost constantly. i'm not gay myself but i support LGBT and i love gay people to death. anyone who is against LGBT is not a friend of mine lol

 

[DJStarstryker]

I'm sorry to hear about your cousin.

I've never experienced it because, well, I'm hetero. So I can't really know what it's like. I live in Maryland currently and I've heard it's not too bad for LGBT people here. But before this I lived in Georgia. Atlanta is just OK for LGBT people, but outside of Atlanta? Yeah, it's Bible thumping hickville for the most part, and I've heard LGBT people get treat HORRIBLE. But that's supposed to be pretty common in most of the US south, to include your state of Mississippi, unfortunately

 

[seliph]

You don't have to come out. Coming out is a really crappy concept invented by straight people FOR straight people and you (or anyone) do not have to do it if you don't feel safe. It doesn't make you dishonest or bad or anything that anyone will try to pin on you for not doing so.

That being said it's pretty tame here in my city but tbh I think most homophobes/transphobes here are just silent. I was walking in Toronto with my friend in the summer and some dude just yelled "I'M TIRED OF THESE ****ING GAYS" and we were like damn well ok

 

[kingblook]

hoo boy, as a pansexual trans guy... i feel this. i actually live in a pretty accepting place, but my mom isn't accpeting. it really sucks kinda wish i didn't come out, the first thing my mom said to be is "there's nothing wrong with being a gay woman." it's nice to know that my mom doesn't mind if i'm gay, but...
my long distance girlfriend was over for christmas and she had to constantly call me a girl in front of my extended family because my mom won't let me come out to them :/

 

[nostalgibra]

I'm sorry about your cousin.

In Tennessee, it's really bad. I'm bisexual myself and I'm only out to my very closest friends. I would like to come out all the way eventually, but right now that's a very very bad idea. Case in point, I was out the other day and saw a pride flag on a house downtown. I thought it was awesome until I realized how dangerous it is. It's stupid that it's dangerous and it makes me angry, but that's the reality of it at this point in time.

 

[tumut]

I support homophobia tbh, they should be afraid of us because one day we'll wipe out all of the gross str8 ppl and the gay agenda will become reality

- - - Post Merge - - -

Gay supremacy

 

[tybalt_cake]

I support homophobia tbh, they should be afraid of us because one day we'll wipe out all of the gross str8 ppl and the gay agenda will become reality

- - - Post Merge - - -

Gay supremacy

I approve this c:

And yes i had to deal with that. Mostly on 6th grade and at early 7th grade i had to deal with those homophobic human scums.
I believe in my classroom almost everyone accepts it (Obviously the inmature jerks of the classroom think gay is a insult and they are pretty much homophobic but whatever) so if by X , Y or Z reason i have to come out to them i guess it wouldnt matter.

 

[Ghost Soda]

seconding gyro here: if you don't feel comfortable or safe coming out now, you don't have to. nobody's entitled to know your sexuality.

personally, i haven't encountered any homophobia, at least nothing personal, but i'm sure it's bound to happen sooner or later. *sigh*

 

[Mega_Cabbage]

I haven't really seen much homophobia nor homosexual support around where I live in Virginia, so I guess most people don't seem to mind either way. One of my friends is pansexual and another is gay. I pretty much never think about it since it's not relevant most of the time. Even when it's mentioned, we joke about it in a friendly way ("gay" and "homo" comes up a lot when we play Cards Against Humanity).

 

[visibleghost]

im not a victim of homophobia but anti lgbt opinions were Very common in my last school. im trans and my sister is a lesbian and both of us had to deal w/ a bunch of crap (even tho i wasnt out and my sister was only one gay person lmao .., my last school sucked)
no teacher ever interfered and ppl were super homophobic and transphobic openly in class,,.... the teachers would ignore it or be like "thats their opinion ". yeah sure it is their opinion but it is not okay to bully and opress ppl and the school had a very struct anti bullyign policy.,..

when it comes to coming out it is a ****ty thing and u dont have to do it. no one has a right to know ur sexuality. for me it is a bit different since trans stuff generally tend 2 need some coming out but, like, i dont think anyone should have to come out. it is straight ppls fault they assume everyoens sexuality b4 being told what it is ):<
it can be unsafe and uncomfortable to come out and u really shouldnt have to feel pressured to do it. if u feelunsafe around ur relatives u could try to avoid them bc ppl like tht are crap

 

[LinkToTheWorld]

im not a victim of homophobia but anti lgbt opinions were Very common in my last school. im trans and my sister is a lesbian and both of us had to deal w/ a bunch of crap (even tho i wasnt out and my sister was only one gay person lmao .., my last school sucked)
no teacher ever interfered and ppl were super homophobic and transphobic openly in class,,.... the teachers would ignore it or be like "thats their opinion ". yeah sure it is their opinion but it is not okay to bully and opress ppl and the school had a very struct anti bullyign policy.,..

when it comes to coming out it is a ****ty thing and u dont have to do it. no one has a right to know ur sexuality. for me it is a bit different since trans stuff generally tend 2 need some coming out but, like, i dont think anyone should have to come out. it is straight ppls fault they assume everyoens sexuality b4 being told what it is ):<
it can be unsafe and uncomfortable to come out and u really shouldnt have to feel pressured to do it. if u feelunsafe around ur relatives u could try to avoid them bc ppl like tht are crap

Exactly...why do people have to come out for if they don't want to? I've had this argument many times with one of my friends. If you don't announce your sexuality to everybody you're hiding it, apparently. But she never announced to everybody she was heterosexual.
It has nothing to do with anybody else. If you feel like you need to tell people, that's okay. But it's also okay not to.
I feel no shame over my sexuality, I'm just a very very private person. The amount of people I've known who have asked other people if I'm gay...I prefer to leave them wondering

It's incredibly sad that homophobia still exists today. Just very sad. Nobody should ever be made to feel unsafe or unwelcome because of it.

 

[kingblook]

im not a victim of homophobia but anti lgbt opinions were Very common in my last school. im trans and my sister is a lesbian and both of us had to deal w/ a bunch of crap (even tho i wasnt out and my sister was only one gay person lmao .., my last school sucked)
no teacher ever interfered and ppl were super homophobic and transphobic openly in class,,.... the teachers would ignore it or be like "thats their opinion ". yeah sure it is their opinion but it is not okay to bully and opress ppl and the school had a very struct anti bullyign policy.,..

when it comes to coming out it is a ****ty thing and u dont have to do it. no one has a right to know ur sexuality. for me it is a bit different since trans stuff generally tend 2 need some coming out but, like, i dont think anyone should have to come out. it is straight ppls fault they assume everyoens sexuality b4 being told what it is ):<
it can be unsafe and uncomfortable to come out and u really shouldnt have to feel pressured to do it. if u feelunsafe around ur relatives u could try to avoid them bc ppl like tht are crap

yeah i wouldnt have come out if i didnt have to... i'm trans too and well, when people called me a girl and i wasnt out, how were they supposed to know it was wrong? but now that people know i'm a guy and they still call me a girl... oh boy is that uncomfortable. but not coming out prevents you from starting your transition AND personally, it felt like i was lying to everyone, including myself

 

[Celestefey]

I've never been a victim of homophobia personally, but that's because I've never properly come out. To be honest, I don't feel a need to. People just assume you're heterosexual until you say otherwise, and it shouldn't be that way. Sexuality is ambiguous. I don't want to tell people I'm bi and I feel no need to. It's personal to me and if I did date another girl then I'd probably HAVE to come out but I still feel like I shouldn't have to, I feel like I should be able to just say "this is my girlfriend" and no one have to think two seconds about it. If you feel like you're safer not coming out then it's probably for the best you don't. But really, there is no need for you to tell anyone. Take a change of perspective.

 

[Corrie]

I live in Canada and I don't really see people hating gay people too much but I know it exists cause I told a girl in my class to see Finding Dory cause it was good and she told me she hates Ellen and wouldn't see Finding Dory cause Ellen is a lesbian. Like wat.

I'm bisexual myself and haven't told anyone about it cause it isn't any of their business. It sucks that people can't be accepting but what I think is that you don't need to tell anyone about your sexuality until you have a partner that makes people question your sexuality. Then you can calmly mention what your orientation is cause they'd be curious at that point.

It would be awesome to be that person to be open but in some places, it literally isn't safe to do so so for your safety, don't unless you know you'll be safe.

 

[moonford]

Can Homophobia die soon please? No? Okay....

My condolences to you for your loss and I hope your Mother finally accepts people for who they are as well as your family 'friend' who bad mouthes people when they have passed on, disrespect in its most unwanted form.

 

[Kittyinpink87]

I hate having to put up with listening to my Mother and Father always complainingredients about anything LGBT. Anytime someone LGBT wins any kind of show or anything they always try saying that they only won because their gay and all kinds of other stuff. UGH.
I just wish people could be happy for other people instead of blindly hating on people.

 

[RiceBunny]

No. I'm pansexual and like people despite their gender and sexuality. So, people usually aren't as harsh towards bisexuals and pansexuals because they tend to date both male and female. My mom has been super accepting, always; even if I was full blown gay. If anything, I think my mom would like gaining another daughter.
I just don't tell people, unless asked, and if they have a problem with it... then they can go suck a bag of nuts.

 

[mintellect]

My mother is homophobic, and even though I'm hetero it still annoys me when she decides to rant about it.
I used to be homophobic as well, but I actually didn't fully understand homosexuality, I was brought up in a Catholic household where I was just taught "being gay is bad." It was never really explained.
While the students in my school are accepting of homosexuality, I don't know the general public's opinion.

 

[Chicha]

I'm sorry to hear about your cousin, OP.

I unfortunately have lots of family members who are homophobic. Years ago, my cousin came out and many weren't supportive because it wasn't viewed as acceptable. I remember my family called me to tell me the "horrible news" and were baffled I wasn't shocked and expressed support. People who claim to love God but turn their backs on anyone for their sexuality is a horrible person, end of story. This goes especially for those who do this to own family members. The lack of empathy for others disgusts me.

Fortunately, my cousin cut contact from the majority of family and is living much happier now. I also cut contact with most of my family because many refuse to be tolerant. Being a decent human being is way too much effort for those kinds of people. Life's too short to deal with toxic people like that.

It also makes my heart sad to see others who are surrounded by intolerant family members. Please don't feel pressured to come out if you are living in an unsafe environment. You are all strong and you do whatever you need to do to keep yourselves safe. <3