Well, OK, it was over YouTube and it wasn’t really a good death threat. I’d been having an argument with someone about the fact that they thought everyone who was not exclusively straight should be held on a level with paedophiles and murderers. When I told them that I quite happily kiss women, and I am not at all ashamed of it, he replied that I “should b killed like a rabid diseased dog”.
It was actually hilarious, but slightly concerning as well. Concerning because yes, someone just told me I deserved to die because I don’t care what gender my partner is (but more concerning because he didn't seem able to construct a sentence without failing to spell words correctly). It was hilarious because this type of person is swiftly becoming the minority. This is the first time someone has actively threatened me because of my orientation. It’s not the first time someone’s said something stupid, for sure, nor is it the first time someone’s said something like “just don’t flaunt it in my face”. I’m not sure if it’s because I live in a fairly accepting area of the world, or because all of my friends are ridiculously open, but I’ve never really felt that there’s been a problem.
According to some researchers, this is swiftly becoming a trend across the UK and other areas of the world.
In real terms, it’s because the period of homohysteria is ending. Homohysteria (at least the definition I'm using) does not mean that everyone is suddenly homosexual (the other type of result that comes up on Google). It is the time during which everyone becomes almost hysterically homophobic which, as we know, is all fun and games as long as it's on YouTube.
Homohysteria was a term created by Eric Anderson PhD, who has conducted extensive research into homosexual men in schools, and especially athletic teams. The first openly gay high school coach in the US, he and his team were not treated favourably.
After he came out, one of his track runners was involved in a fight with an American football player from the same high school. The police ruled it “mutual combat” or the “no harm, no foul” rule. Essentially, as long as nobody was hurt, then nobody could be punished. The head teacher appeared on the news, saying “boys will be boys”. Which is fine, right? Except it wasn’t a case of a small scuffle. It wasn’t male high spirits. It was because his coach wasn’t straight. And, because his coach wasn’t straight, that football player pinned down that track runner and punched him in the face, over and over. He attacked him so aggressively that he managed to fracture his palate. For anyone that doesn’t know what that is (or just for a better idea), touch your tongue to the roof of your mouth, as far back as you can reach. That hard bone you feel, running down the middle of your mouth? That’s the palate. And his was fractured.
Homophobia is a simple thing. Act as cruelly as possible towards someone, and the person that does the most harm wins. The prize is your heterosexuality.
No, I did intend to say that you won your own sexuality, don’t worry. Anderson has a theory about this, too. In 1895, Oscar Wilde set a dangerous precedent. Defending himself against charges of homosexuality, he slipped up and, when asked if he slept with a particular man, replied “he is far too plain for me”. He lost the trial, pretty much because of that single sentence. You see, nobody thought that homosexuality existed. He said that the man was “too plain” – meaning he could differentiate between a plain man and a handsome man.
In other words, he was not straight.
In a lot of ways the stereotype of a gay man – very effeminate, fashionable, and camp – probably came from an extended series of generation-style Chinese whispers that originated with Mr Wilde.
In the 1980s, however, that stereotype took a huge blow. Aids appeared. Everyone had thought that a gay man was easy to spot – and that Aids only affected gay males - but suddenly all types of men were being infected. The stereotype was proven to be false. And, just like that, homophobia took an alarming turn.
Instances of homophobic actions in the early parts of the 20th Century – even up until the 1990s – are difficult to pinpoint. As with the example above, many of the hate crimes were inappropriately labelled, treated as non-hate crimes, or even just not reported. Homophobia was incredibly rampant during this time because there is one thing a homosexual doesn’t have to defend that a heterosexual does – the fact that they’re straight.
And we’re back to the prize of the game that is homohysteria. You see, a person only has to do one non-straight thing, and they are forever labelled as “gay”. The way around this – to protect your “straightness” – was to act as homophobic as possible, and avoid doing anything that could label you something other than straight. Everyone began to hyper-sexualise the opposite gender, and stared spouting abuse towards gay people.
Thus far, though, it seems that the world – in small areas, in liberal countries, and in societies – is losing its desire for homophobia. Yes, there is homophobia. It’s never going to leave completely. But it will never be as destructive as it has been before.
This is why, when I got that threat the other night, I just laughed. Because it is homophobes like you, sir, that are the minority by now.
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