[center][img]http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/free_speech.png[/img][/center] First off let me begin by saying I think homophobia is a bad and undesirable trait for any self-respecting person that lives in the 21st century. I see no reason for me to care what sexuality other people have. In that same place I would like to, also, already clarify that the same goes for genders. I disagree that there's more than three genders, but I respect anyone's right to think otherwise, I don't really care about what gender people ascribe themselves because it's really none of my business until they try to make it mine. I came to my conclusion after much deliberation, some research and some (in my eyes) rational thoughts. I hope you can respect that first and foremost before you consider writing up a reply. The LGBT+ community has been at the tip of my spear quite a few times as I am quite critical of them. Not for their sexuality - as stated before I really don't care who they fuck behind closed doors - but because of their methods of 'preaching acceptance' such as gay prides that have little to no benefit in my eyes. But at the same time I support those that are rational and just want to live their lives 'normally' like most other people. Before you scream '[i]STOP PUTTING A HETERONORMATIVE LIFE ON MEEEEE!! REEEEEEEE![/i]' I want to clarify; [quote=http://www.dictionary.com/browse/normal]normal [nawr-muh l] adjective 1. conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural.[/quote] As we all know the % of heterosexuals is far, far higher than that of any other sexuality (due to biological reasons for the most part) therefore it could easily and factually be said that heterosexuality is indeed [i]the norm[/i]. There's simply no debate about this. Heterosexuality [i]is[/i] the standard. That's not good, not bad either, it just is. Moving on, as I was saying I completely agree with these homosexuals/bisexuals that want to live their life normally, i.e. have a job, get married, do well in life and find joy in their day to day life without being harassed. Now that I've established that I really don't care about your sexuality, and that I am not a homophobe, I can move on without having to fear for being called a homophobe. Well actually I don't really care. Maybe you think I'm a homophobe and that's fine. [hr] [h1]Homophobia[/h1] So moving on from that spectacle, homophobia is obviously an existing trait in some people, and people have varying opinions on homophobia. The common one is 'homophobia is bad' [i]because unlike Tumblr wants you to believe, heterosexuals do not all hate homosexuals, and most people are of the opinion that homophobia is bad.[/i] This is partly because the label of homophobe has a bad connotation, nobody wants to be associated with homophobia, and therefore, when asked, people will reply that they don't like homophobia, even if they disagree with homosexuality. And that is within their right - there is a difference between hating homosexuals and going full Westboro Baptist Church, and simply thinking homosexuality is wrong but respecting those peoples rights to practice it anyway. But besides that, between the anti-homosexuality and pro-homosexuality camps, there is [i]large, large[/i] amounts of people who simply don't care. And rightfully so, it's not their business, it goes on behind closed doors (unless you get like gay prides, which is shoving homosexuality in peoples faces) and so they don't care. I like to think I belong in this camp but obviously I am quite argumentative and enjoy discussing and debating people about topics like these so I don't think I can really say I'm indifferent, haha. So I think homophobia is far less widespread than people (especially Tumblr feminists, Tumblrina's, DA ES JAY DABBAYOO'S and active LGBT+ activists) think. In fact it's probably a bit of a non issue in most of the western world. (We'll get to that later, though.) Never the less, regardless of your idea about homophobia, or the dislike of homosexuality, [i]homophobes still have rights.[/i] It is allowed for them to dislike homosexuality in the same way it's allowed for me to dislike how a certain breed of dogs look. So the idea that homophobia needs to be rooted out by force is both unrealistic and unlawful. You can't fight ideas, people, the only natural progression here is to let people adapt to the modern times and have them realize that it's not so bad. You don't do that with gay prides, you don't do that by screaming in their face and protesting, you do that by showing that you're regular like them, or by peaceful debate. So in that way I respect homophobes. [i]They fight for what they think is right even though I disagree with them.[/i] [hr] [h1]Country perspectives[/h1] So okay, I said homophobia was a non-issue for most of the western world. But obviously USA is included in that, and in the US homosexuals/bisexuals are often shunned for their sexuality. Now obviously that's what I mean with country perspectives. And to be honest, this is one of the most annoying things when I debate about homosexuality/bisexuality/sexuality in general. Americans often seem to think that homophobia is normal in the rest of the world. It really isn't. [i]June 26, 2015[/i] was the day that gay marriage was legalized in the USA. [hider=gif, european gay rights][img]http://i.imgur.com/EYmT3Hw.jpg[/img][/hider] Some countries here have allowed legal gay cohabitation from 1989, with the first country to legalize it being mine in 2001. That's 15 years ago now. So as you can see the USA is quite a bit behind. In fact, even before 2001, homosexuals were widely accepted here in the large cities (it was the bible belt that didn't. Crazy anti-vaxers..) Even in former east-bloc countries that are largely homophobic, they will still allow same sex marriage. So please consider this when you read my points. The most homophobe problems we have here are from immigrants from the Arab world where homosexuality is still very much non existent. Contrast this to the USA where the homophobes are, often, quite literally your own parents. Moving on to the brunt of the discussion and my favorite point: [hr] [h1]Democracy and it's relations to homophobia[/h1] So we all live in democracies. I hate democracy, it's a terrible system when you live in countries with a large population that consists of 60% uneducated people that don't know a thing about what it takes to run a country. But it's the (sad) reality. I can't change it for you, you can't change it because you're just one tiny ant and the leaders don't want to change it because it's nice to have democracy as a politician. It funds their salary after all. What is the relation to homophobia though? Well it's really rather simple, since a democracy implies that anyone can advocate their ideas and opinions and if they get a large enough following, they can make their ideas and opinions the norm. That's the sad reality of living in democracy, especially when you're living in the USA. I think democracy should be renamed to idiocracy, but that's another matter. Fact of the matter is, you can advocate pro-LGBT+ but at the same time they have a right to advocate anti-LGBT+ and they don't even need a good reason for it. All they need is a gut feeling. This doesn't make them a bigot, this doesn't make them ignorant, it doesn't make them anything other than someone who fights for what they believe in. Unless they're Westboro baptist levels of stupid, then no. But otherwise the majority is actually just rational people with a different view. Once you realize this you should be able to enter a rational discussion with them at least, but the fault I see on both sides is often that they enter the discussion unwilling to see the other sides story, or their feelings, and their points. It's like 2 deaf guys screaming at each other trying to tell them what they mean. There's no order and neither is listening. It's important to realize very much that democracy is mob rule and, actually, it's kinda primitive. We like to think we're super advanced and shit but honestly, democracy is simply a more organized mob rule. In the end, the largest group decides what happens and the largest group of people are uneducated and usually don't read about what they're voting on. I'll add a small addendum about mob rule in the end. It'll be interesting. As for free speech I'd like to refer to the top of the page, the comic illustrates what the mistake is that people make when it comes to free speech. I don't have to listen to you rant about why LGBT is the savior of the universe (or the devil, either way) and I have full reign to remove you from private properties if I own it. Free speech =/= a free card to say whatever the fuck you want. It's always important to remember that, and if that's not enough, keep this in mind: [i]nobody really cares about what you think either.[/i] Sad reality. [hr] So my addendum about mob rule: It's quite laughable when people (Black Lives Matter comes to mind, as does feminism from Tumblr) are anti-majority. Like shit, you can hate white cishet males but the fact of the matter is white cishet males are the majority of the country, and you [i]need[/i] them to solicit any type of real, big legal changes. So if you villify them and make them feel like a villain (what BLM and Tumblrina Feminazi's like to do) with movements such as hating on white people or making hashtags like #killallmen, you're not gaining favor and in fact are creating a sort of segregation from yourself and the rest of the country. In fact this makes people less likely to support you. I, for instance, always thought feminism to be kinda good, same goes for Black Lives Matter, until I realized that actually these two groups are just loud obnoxious people that are not about the core message (equality for all races/genders) but rather are about protesting the large majority that they perceive slight from (even if this isn't the case, a lot of feminist claims are false, and a lot of BLM claims are false). Doing this (I see it on this site too, LGBT people going 'dem damn' hetero's always ruinin my lives!!') actually makes it less likely for you to ever be accepted. Mostly because people accept people that they like. If you make me dislike you, I'm not gonna accept you. Actually, you can fuck off then. Anyway, thanks for reading! I look forward to seeing your thoughts.