Quote Originally Posted by Paint_It_Black View Post
Exactly. In common usage a "homophobe" is anyone who believes homosexuality is somehow intrinsically wrong. I don't believe that all homophobes hate homosexuals though. They hate homosexuality, but not necessarily the actual homosexual person. I think this can be an important distinction, particularly when deciding whether it's worth trying to reason with them.
Someone said something along the lines of, "Homophobia is the fear [among men] that a man will treat you the way you treat women," and it really stuck with me. I don't necessarily think it's always that simple, especially since homophobes are not exclusively male, but I do believe it's a factor.

I absolutely love everything about this post. If you're ever desperately seeking someone to have a civil union with give me a call.
Aw, you're too kind (and I'm too spoken for :P)

edit: Not trying to backseat-mod, especially since I'm super new here, but doesn't it seem like a thread of this nature ought to be in the Politics forum?