Tuesday May 17 is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, otherwise known as IDAHO. I am proud of my sexuality, and refuse to accept that homophobia and transphobia have a place in a civil, caring society.
The rank stench of homophobia still wafts into society on a daily basis, regardless of the country or the culture. It can be out in the open, via discrimination or physical assault, or it can be pervasive and subtle, such as what happened to me only 2 weeks ago:
I was walking out of the local liquor store with a case of cider. As I walked out, a young boy, maybe 8 or 10 years, asked his father, who was walking past, “Daddy, what’s cider?”
The father answered “It’s like beer, but only girls and fags drink it.”
That’s the sort of talk that creates another homophobe, so I turned and confronted the father, in front of his son, and said “Excuse me, but I prefer to be called gay.”
Homophobes are typically bullies, and all bullies are actually cowards when they’re confronted. So the reaction he had to that was as if I’d thrown a bucket of ice cold water on him.
Don’t think that homophobia isn’t a real problem.
