Yes, it's a big problem No, it's a small problem No, it's not a problem at all see voting resultssaving...
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100
User voted No, it's a small problem.
2 votes
Feb 19, 2016

In a relative sense homophobia in the US is a small problem.

In parts of Central Africa there are countries where gay people are lynched in front of their families. That is a big problem. In the United States some people do get abused online, some feel discriminated against, and a few are the targets of hate speech and hate crimes. But there are very few fatalities and there is much less of a stigma.

Add to all this the fact that the United States has over the past 10 years become much more supportive of gay marriage; an issue which divided the US just a few years ago. Attitudes have changed pretty quickly, and while the job is not done it has certainly progressed to the point that there are more important problems in the United States today.

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100
1 vote
Feb 18, 2016

Well, a judgment call like this is very relative. We are better than South Africa....but there is still some degree of homophobia here that hurts people. How much is a "big problem"? Hard to say.....

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100
1 vote
Jul 12, 2016

Yes.

This isn't even a real matter of debate. The only way one can respond "No" to this question if one is informed is if one either thinks that institutional dominance of heterosexual and cis-gendered people is not just acceptable but actually preferable, or if one just doesn't think discrimination matters very much.

Gay people only got equal access to marriage in 2015. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was only repealed in 2011. Is it really that big of a surprise that we have a society that still has a deep vein of homophobia and transphobia within it?

In 2016, we've seen bathroom bills to force transgender people into bathrooms where they will frequently not look like they belong and make people afraid for no good reason. It's part of what I call "sadistic busybodyism": so many Americans want so badly to hurt and constrain transgender people that they just don't care that they are actually creating the nightmare scenario they envision. They don't care that there are more confirmed cases of Republican representatives engaging in bathroom sexual misconduct than transgender people, or that transgender men look like attractive women who just walked into a bathroom which may cause them to be a target of potential sexual harassment and assault, or that transgender people are immensely more likely to be the victims of sexual assault than the perpetrators, or that the bill can't be enforced and that the process of enforcing it would mean more male cops in female bathrooms, or that the hysteria that was being produced to try to win elections was leading to real people being harassed out of bathrooms even when they weren't trans. They don't even care that big burly guys will walk into women's bathrooms, forced to do so by the law, and make the women inside afraid of being attacked.

Sure, many of these people claim that they're just afraid for their children being attacked in the bathroom. But there comes a level of hysteria, fear and ignorance that ceases to be about any kind of love and is about hate. Rape is still illegal. Why would a person who intended to assault someone and commit a felony be stopped by an additional misdemeanor or even felony charge?

The evidence for institutional homophobia is just staggering. The level of discrimination is high enough that gay men make less on the dollar on average. As many as 43 percent of gay workers and 90 percent of trans workers report discrimination on the job. Transgender people still face serious discrimination in the military. (And while I have major problems with the colonialism of the American military, we as a society should insist that those who want to serve are able to do so unless there's a compelling reason that they can't. And yes, the ban on their service has just been lifted). Gay and trans students still face constant homophobia.

And that's the U.S. Need I mention that things aren't so great in Russia? Saudi Arabia? Uganda?

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50
2 votes
Feb 18, 2016

Homophobia is a huge problem. Kids are being kicked out of their families, employees can be fired for who they are and gay people do not have equal rights.

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50
2 votes
Feb 18, 2016

No it's not a big problem.

Yes I know there are people how don't like gay people, and there are people who don't like people because they are black, white, Japanese, etc. Generally most people don't care one way or another. Yes there is the whole marriage debate, but in that debate people are asking the wrong question. It shouldn't be should gay's be allowed to get married, but instead the question should be why is the government involved in marriage at all?

Again most people don't care who or what you do, with any willing partner, it's the few screaming people, on both sides, that get the attention of the media.

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-2
opinion
2 votes
Feb 18, 2016

Homosexuality is not a virtue - it is an affliction. It should not be glorified.

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