You've probably heard people claim that they oppose gay marriage, but they're not homophobic. I'm not entirely sure how that's supposed to work, though. Bringing homophobia into such a discussion isn't quite like, say, calling someone a racist because they oppose the President. There are reasons to dislike Obama other than racism (which isn't to say that I haven't heard from some quite vocal people who DO dislike him for racist reasons), but I've yet to hear a reason for opposing gay marriage that isn't homophobic. Can anyone think of one? And no, "sanctity of marriage" doesn't count, for multiple reasons. Do you really think, for instance, that a former New York City mayor who's been married three times and is considering a run for governor on an anti-gay-marriage platform has much concern for the sanctity of marriage? Not to mention that sanctity is hardly the business of the government.
The term "homophobia" is a bit weird, when you think about it. Does everyone who's prejudiced against gays feel that way out of fear, as the term suggests? A lot of homophobes ARE motivated by fear, as with those who believe that there's a Gay Agenda to corrupt kids and paint the Statue of Liberty bright purple, but are all of them? A lot of racists are also motivated by fear, but racism isn't referred to as a phobia. For that matter, the word is pretty weird (or should I say "queer"? :P) in another way, because wouldn't the most literal translation be "fear of the same"? Yeah, I know I'm nitpicking, but I'm just wondering why this one form of prejudice is pretty much always referred to as a phobia, while others aren't.
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