Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative
attitudes and feelings towards
lesbian and
gay and in some cases
bisexual,
transgender people and behaviour although these are usually covered under
biphobia and
transphobia.
Intersex and
asexual people are also sometimes included. Definitions refer variably to
antipathy,
contempt,
prejudice, aversion, and irrational
fear. Homophobia is observable in critical and hostile behavior such as
discrimination and
violence on the basis of a perceived
homosexual or in some cases any
non-heterosexual orientation. In a 1998 address, author, activist, and civil rights leader
Coretta Scott King stated that "Homophobia is like
racism and
anti-Semitism and other forms of
bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood."
Among more discussed forms are
institutionalized homophobia (e.g. religious and state-sponsored),
lesbophobia – the
intersection of homophobia and sexism directed against......
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