Homophobia

The concept of homophobia has become an integral part of the vocabulary of social science. Homophobia is defined as any negative attitude (from simple discomfort to extreme violence) of an individual or group toward homosexual individuals or relationships. “Homophobic” behavior depends on historical and cultural context, and homophobic attitudes manifest themselves in many forms, depending on the context and the social groups concerned. The term homophobia has been in use since the 1970s. Specifically, it was the American psychotherapist G. Weinberg who first defined it as “the dread of being in close quarters with homosexuals.” However, the concept has at times been criticized, depending on the discipline in which it is being used. Sociologists and social psychologists studying violence toward homosexual individuals emphasize not only the individual component of the concept (the phobia) but also the ensemble of cognitive behavior toward homosexuality at social, moral, and legal levels. The suffix -phobia suggests that individuals characterized by negative attitudes toward homosexual individuals are “afraid,” but most scholars agree that such behavior is rooted in social prejudice. Therefore, some scholars use the terms antihomosexual sentiment, antigay sentiments, homohatred, antihomosexualism, and homosexual bias.

Scholars of deviant behavior tending toward a sociocultural analysis identify cognitive and social as well as psychological, individual, and emotional aspects. Thus, some use the concept of heterosexism, meaning a system that is the basis for a given society to develop a form of segregation based on sexual orientation. This concept refers to all the structures, institutions, and social relationships that generate, maintain, and perpetuate feelings of disdain for homosexual individuals. A distinction between homophobia and heterosexism needs to be made because, whereas the first indicates a personal and individual disposition, the second implies institutional subordination of homosexual individuals. In the sociological debate, Ken Plummer was one of the first to put forward timely criticisms of the concept of homophobia. According to Plummer, the expression has a number of limits: (a) it strengthens the belief that sexual identities must be understood in terms of illness and mental health, (b) it appears to be of little use in constructing theories on anti-lesbian violence, (c) its focus remains on the individual, and (d) it makes the problem of oppression of gay men a priority over the oppression of other sexual minorities. Therefore, an analysis considering antihomosexual violence as a product of heterosexism is more compelling. Plummer (1975) defines heterosexism as