A psychologist is questioning a major news organization’s decision not to use the word “homophobia” anymore. George Weinberg popularized the term “homophobia" after he used it in his 1972 book “Society and the Healthy Homosexual.”
Someone with a "phobia" is considered to have an excessive or unreasonable fear of something. George Weinberg says the word homophobia is meant to show that people who do not like gays have a problem.
“Its power was that it showed this is an emotional aversion to people who live differently, who are totally harmless. And it comes from the gut and it resulted in violence, in robbing people of privileges, and it obviously wasn’t simply being anti-gay. That’s something different all together.”
George Weinberg is not gay. But he spent years in the 1960s and 1970s trying to persuade o officials to take violence against homosexuals more seriously. He says giving a name to people who discriminate gives the victims a greater feeling of peace and safety.
"If I know that you have a problem, then when you discriminate against me, it gives me a little more chance to have dignity and a life. I can enjoy being who I am, whether it’s being gay or being black or being a woman, if I know that the other guy has the problem and not me.”
George Weinberg was so persuasive that he helped remove "homosexuality" from the main medical book used to identify psychological problems. In fact, he wants “homophobia” added to that book, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. And he thinks using the term should remain acceptable in the AP Stylebook. The stylebook is published by the Associated Press and widely used as a writing guide by other media organizations.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25