(no subject)
Homophobia? Call it hatred
February 27, 2007
BY DESIREE COOPER
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
Gayle Colbeck, a Free Press reader, called me last week, incensed. She'd been following the coverage of retired Miami Heat star Tim Hardaway's antigay comments -- a tirade so vile, the NBA shunned him.
"Why do they call it homopho-bia?" asked Colbeck, a Detroit gay woman who has been the target of hate. "It's not like it's a mental disorder. We need another term."
She was right.
The term "Negrophobia" has been bandied about since the 1900s. It's an almost comedic description of the irrational fear some people have of blacks. But it has never taken hold because the word "racist" is so much more precise: a deep-seated belief in the inherent superiority of a particular race -- a belief that often results in acts of hate. That's not a phobia; it's a choice.
Killing of a patriot
My search for a more appropriate term for homophobia took on greater importance when I heard about the killing of Andrew Anthos, 72.
Countless people in the media and politics have heard from Anthos during his 25-year mission to get the dome of the state Capitol lit in red, white and blue. For him, the effort was an act of patriotism, perhaps fueled by his Greek and African-American ancestry, or perhaps by his difficult life as a gay man. Who values basic freedoms more than someone who has been denied them?
I've received many letters from him requesting my support for his obsession. Just a few months ago, the friendly man with the high-pitched voice stopped by my office to show me the scrapbook of articles he'd collected about Rosa Parks' funeral. He'd planned to give his collection to the Detroit Public Library, which he visited daily.
I'm not sure he ever got to do it. On the day before Valentine's Day, he was riding a bus in Detroit when a man asked him if he was gay. After he replied "yes," the man followed Anthos off the bus and beat him with a metal pipe, spewing antigay venom. Anthos was paralyzed and left for dead, lingering at Detroit Receiving Hospital until Friday, when he succumbed to his injuries.
Homophobia? I think that word's too kind for mayhem.
Sugarcoated hate
Jack Kay agrees. He's provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Michigan-Flint, and has researched hate speech, even once infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan. "Homophobia is a weasel word because it focuses attention on the wrong thing," he said. "It seems to indicate that there's a pathological explanation, rather than it's inappropriate, learned behavior."
Maybe people who hate on the basis of sexual orientation should be called "gracists," giving the behavior the same loathsome connotation as the label "racist." Or maybe a word that combines "gay" and "anger," like "gangist," would be more apt.
Or maybe I'm trying too hard. Anyone who would beat to death a 72-year-old because he's gay is not a homophobe -- he's a monster.
Contact DESIREE COOPER at 313-222-6625 or dcooper@freepress.com.
February 27, 2007
BY DESIREE COOPER
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
Gayle Colbeck, a Free Press reader, called me last week, incensed. She'd been following the coverage of retired Miami Heat star Tim Hardaway's antigay comments -- a tirade so vile, the NBA shunned him.
"Why do they call it homopho-bia?" asked Colbeck, a Detroit gay woman who has been the target of hate. "It's not like it's a mental disorder. We need another term."
She was right.
The term "Negrophobia" has been bandied about since the 1900s. It's an almost comedic description of the irrational fear some people have of blacks. But it has never taken hold because the word "racist" is so much more precise: a deep-seated belief in the inherent superiority of a particular race -- a belief that often results in acts of hate. That's not a phobia; it's a choice.
Killing of a patriot
My search for a more appropriate term for homophobia took on greater importance when I heard about the killing of Andrew Anthos, 72.
Countless people in the media and politics have heard from Anthos during his 25-year mission to get the dome of the state Capitol lit in red, white and blue. For him, the effort was an act of patriotism, perhaps fueled by his Greek and African-American ancestry, or perhaps by his difficult life as a gay man. Who values basic freedoms more than someone who has been denied them?
I've received many letters from him requesting my support for his obsession. Just a few months ago, the friendly man with the high-pitched voice stopped by my office to show me the scrapbook of articles he'd collected about Rosa Parks' funeral. He'd planned to give his collection to the Detroit Public Library, which he visited daily.
I'm not sure he ever got to do it. On the day before Valentine's Day, he was riding a bus in Detroit when a man asked him if he was gay. After he replied "yes," the man followed Anthos off the bus and beat him with a metal pipe, spewing antigay venom. Anthos was paralyzed and left for dead, lingering at Detroit Receiving Hospital until Friday, when he succumbed to his injuries.
Homophobia? I think that word's too kind for mayhem.
Sugarcoated hate
Jack Kay agrees. He's provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Michigan-Flint, and has researched hate speech, even once infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan. "Homophobia is a weasel word because it focuses attention on the wrong thing," he said. "It seems to indicate that there's a pathological explanation, rather than it's inappropriate, learned behavior."
Maybe people who hate on the basis of sexual orientation should be called "gracists," giving the behavior the same loathsome connotation as the label "racist." Or maybe a word that combines "gay" and "anger," like "gangist," would be more apt.
Or maybe I'm trying too hard. Anyone who would beat to death a 72-year-old because he's gay is not a homophobe -- he's a monster.
Contact DESIREE COOPER at 313-222-6625 or dcooper@freepress.com.