Alternatives to "homophobia"?
Oct. 11th, 2020 06:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soniaToday I learned from Ableist words and terms to avoid by Lydia X. Z. Brown that the term "homophobia" is ableist, because a phobia is a mental illness and should not be used to mean bias or bigotry.
I did a further search for alternatives, and There Is No 'Neutral' Word for Anti-Gay Bias by Lily Rothman, Dec 2012, suggests "anti-gay bias" or "heterosexism."
I had used "homophobia" four times in my articles over the years. I went back and replaced them with "heterosexism." To me that's an unfamiliar term that doesn't carry the immediate weight and associations of "homophobia." I was usually using it in a list with sexism, racism, etc., so heterosexism does work better than anti-gay bias.
Does anyone have any other suggested terms? The Atlantic article has some interesting discussion of the change in terminology, regarding whether anti-gay bias is or isn't about fear, but it's from 2012. Has the conversation advanced since then?
Oh yeah, and since I'm posting this on National Coming Out Day, by the way I'm bi.
I did a further search for alternatives, and There Is No 'Neutral' Word for Anti-Gay Bias by Lily Rothman, Dec 2012, suggests "anti-gay bias" or "heterosexism."
I had used "homophobia" four times in my articles over the years. I went back and replaced them with "heterosexism." To me that's an unfamiliar term that doesn't carry the immediate weight and associations of "homophobia." I was usually using it in a list with sexism, racism, etc., so heterosexism does work better than anti-gay bias.
Does anyone have any other suggested terms? The Atlantic article has some interesting discussion of the change in terminology, regarding whether anti-gay bias is or isn't about fear, but it's from 2012. Has the conversation advanced since then?
Oh yeah, and since I'm posting this on National Coming Out Day, by the way I'm bi.
