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This includes name-calling, exclusion from friend groups, physical abuse, or bullying. Interpersonal homophobia is when a person expresses homophobic feelings towards a person through verbal or physical violence. This can lead to extreme feelings of worthlessness, fear of coming out, and depression. Internalized homophobia is when a queer person internalizes anti-LGBTQ beliefs, such as that being gay is a sin, or makes a person inferior. All forms of homophobia work together, strengthening and perpetuating anti-LGBTQ beliefs. There are different types of homophobia such as internalized, interpersonal, institutional, and cultural homophobia.
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Every queer person has experienced some form of it, from hearing phrases like “you’re so gay” to to experiencing direct physical violence. Within homophobia there are more specific terms such as biphobia (which targets bisexual folks) and transphobia (which targets transgender and gender nonconforming folks). To be clear, I’m using homophobia to encompass all types of anti-LGBTQ attitudes and discrimination. Homophobia is an ever-present obstacle in the lives of LGBTQ folks. Homophobia affects all queer individuals-not just those who identify as homosexual-in a variety of ways. Young people struggling to come to terms with their identity in a hetero-normative world need that opportunity and it’s a chance for everyone to understand one another better.Homophobia is an “irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals.” The dictionary definition is pretty good but, like many definitions, it falls short of expressing the depth of the word and its impact. This means not only practical information on safe sex, but also open, encouraging conversations on identity, relationships and mental health. So what is the solution? I believe LGBTQ-inclusive education in schools would be a great start. In making this film, I’ve learned just how much of a loaded term gay is. Despite being in a famously gay-friendly area, one person hastily said: “I’m not gay”. In Soho, I handed out stickers promoting the film and reactions were mixed. Staff noticed how the audience’s body language often shifted and became awkward on just seeing the word gay projected on screen. In the week leading up to the premiere of my documentary, The Gay Word, its trailer was shown in a London cinema. Equal marriage legislation may suggest that society has advanced in its thinking, but there remains a gap in its grasp of gay identity, culture and sexuality. Saying “eurgh, that’s gay” reveals a lack of collective understanding of what it means to identify as gay. The language we use, consciously or subconsciously, can reflect our feelings towards minorities. Many older people I spoke to felt strongly that it should it not be allowed to be used negatively. Younger people, whom we might have expected to have more awareness of what it means to identify as gay because of media coverage, were often the demographic defending the negative use of this word. Some gay people I spoke to were content with the word evolving, while there were straight people who were outraged. With just my student overdraft as my budget, I decided to make a documentary exploring how this piece of language had evolved, and speak to people both gay and straight to see how they felt aboutthe word taking on a negative meaning. “The problem with saying ‘that’s so gay’ is that even though you and your friends might know you’re not being homophobic, if you’re using it in a public or semi-public space, other people might see you as homophobic,” he adds.