I will be collecting and attempting to systematize all kinds of objections to homosexual people (in other words, reasons and justifications for homophobia), as well as objections to standard demands of rights-based policies concerning them (including the right to marry and have children). Much of what is written here also applies to bisexual, transgender, and other queer people.
The list is based on my own observations of homophobes, my study of their writings, and academic research on the subject. I will publish new versions of the list as it undergoes significant updates. I’m not going to evaluate or analyze the claims themselves here; that is a separate task.
The list
A. Evaluation of homosexual attraction and/or behavior: “It is a disease / it is harmful to health,” “It is weird,” “It is unnatural,” “It is unmanly (about gay men) / unfeminine (about lesbians),” “It is abnormal,” “It is unattractive,” “It is disgusting,” “It is bad / wrong / immoral,” “It is a sin,” “God did not create men and women for this,” “It is a foreign culture / it is not accepted in our culture.”
Here, we can discern the lenses of certain “norms”, including medical and social norms; the lens of “naturalness”; the lens of gender; the lens of religion; the lens of morality; and the lens of aesthetics.
B. Pointing to other phenomena that are assumed to be associated with homosexuality: “Men will stop being men, and women will stop being women,” “This does not produce children / it threatens demographics (population size),” “They are unpleasant, ugly, insane, narcissistic, provocative, immoral, unspiritual,” “They are prone to lying and criminal behavior,” “They spread infectious diseases,” “They use drugs,” “They lead promiscuous lives,” “They corrupt children,” “They must not be allowed to have children: they need children for sexual gratification,” “This leads to pedophilia / necrophilia / something else,” “We allow homosexuality now, but what comes next? Pedophilia, cannibalism?” “Our enemies are imposing this on us to corrupt our society,” “It weakens our nation/race.”
This category differs from the previous one in that it is not homosexual attraction or behavior itself that is being evaluated, but rather certain traits (whether real or presumed) associated with homosexuality, as well as its consequences (whether real or presumed).
C. Pointing to the presumed ways in which homosexuality spreads: “They will turn others homosexual too,” “Children will see it and want to imitate it,” “They must not be allowed to have children: their children will grow up to be homosexual too.”
D. Pointing to the presumed unfairness of their demands: “They want people to love them just because they are homosexual,” “They think they are better than us,” “They flaunt their homosexuality everywhere,” “They want special privileges,” “No one oppresses them,” “They are protected everywhere,” “They distract us from truly important problems.”
E. Devaluation: “They just haven’t had a proper man (woman),” “It’s a temporary fascination,” “It’s a fad,” “They just want to stand out,” “They’ve just watched too many movies / anime,” “They weren’t beaten enough as children.”
Other: “A normal family must have a father and a mother,” “How are we supposed to explain this to our children?”