Social Question

tigerlilly2's avatar

What causes some people to hate gays/lesbians/transgender people?

Asked by tigerlilly2 (1250points) December 16th, 2010

Personally I don’t think anyone should be told what sexuality to have. You are just attracted to who are attracted to. Homosexuality even exists between animals such as penguins and dolphins. However, I have met several individuals who claim to hate gays but cannot give a reasonable answer for doing so.

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30 Answers

iamthemob's avatar

Nature causes a discomfort. But I would say it’s more like the discomfort associated with people who don’t like flan knowing that someone else is ordering flan.

For the hate – and I hate to say it – I would have to go with religion.

JLeslie's avatar

Why does anyone hate anyone when they have done nothing directly to that person? And, nothing to harm others? Stupidity is all I can come up with, and I hate using the word stupid usually.

@iamthemob I gotta say I love that flan example.

christine215's avatar

even non-religious people “hate” GLBT folk…
there’s a horrible mixture of fear, learned behavior, ignorance.

All the same reasons people are racists.

FutureMemory's avatar

What causes some people to hate gays/lesbians/transgender people?

Assholitis.

Randy's avatar

I think a lot of it stems from fear. Most hate comes from fear of difference and/or change.

Summum's avatar

Hate is such a strong word. I think it would be uncomfortable instead of hate. I doubt people hate others when they make such a statement. @iamthemob is probably right about religion though. I think those that claim such a strong religious background usually are less tolerant than those that don’t. I think that is just an observation I have made due to my upbringing.

ucme's avatar

Their necks have a distinct shade of redness about them.

deni's avatar

Same reason some people hate Republicans. Same reason some people hate Christians. Same reason some people hate black people. There is no reason. It’s because they hate the thought of someone that is radically different than themselves.

tigerlilly2's avatar

@ucme perhaps, but that would probably depend oh what being a redneck consisted of. I live in the south and I don’t hold those viewpoints
@Summum I agree with what you’re saying, but the people I have mentioned actually do hate gays. They loathe them and everything about them. It’s just really sad

mammal's avatar

i don’t know, i just heard about a case of a homophobic attack on a 60+ man in Trafalgar square that resulted in him being knocked unconscious and kicked in the head by an 18 year old man and his ever so brave young female companion. He later died of his injuries. That was upsetting, it was presumably an argument that got out of hand, rather than a premeditated attack, nevertheless, it well behoves passers by to prevent such a vicious assault on an unconscious human being, i hate this group stomping fad, and i hate the fact that homosexuality was brought into the equation…extremely depressing.

mammal's avatar

@deni equating the hatred toward republicans and the hatred toward homosexual/transgendered is grossly unjust. in fact i hate that kind of faux moral equivalence.

ucme's avatar

@tigerlilly2 Oh I absolutely agree. I wouldn’t dream of tarring everyone with the same paint brush. Red or otherwise :¬)

coffeenut's avatar

Lol Being gay/lesbian/transgenderd is a huge contributing factor… seriously though…Mostly the media and religion causes it…Some people are really impressionable and not to bright….not a good mix

Seelix's avatar

People are afraid of what they don’t understand. I think that’s the reason behind a LOT of the hatred in the world.

deni's avatar

@mammal Not necessarily. And anyhow, didn’t say it was equal.

DominicX's avatar

@mammal I think the point @deni was making was that when you really examine reasons for hatred or discrimination, the underlying cause is ultimately that they are different and people simply can’t handle those who are different from them and they’re seen as something that needs to be done away with rather than understood and accepted. Of course the magnitude of hatred is not the same at all. I don’t recall kids being bullied to the point of suicide because they’re Christian or Republican…

Religion is a major source of the hatred because at least in America, the dominant religion is Christianity, and the Bible does denounce homosexuality in several places, including in the ancient and possibly outdated book of Leviticus where it is grounds for the death penalty. In a culture where sexuality is seen as something taboo and sexual immorality is seen as much worse than other forms of immorality (pedophile hysteria, anyone?), homosexuality, being a form of sexual immorality in the eyes of the religion, creates hysteria and hatred itself.

But then what you have to look at is why religion denounces homosexuality in the first place, and ultimately, it’s because it’s different and it goes against the “natural order”. I have my own theories as well that perhaps the reason why so many men have been against it is because men naturally fear being sexually submissive and homosexuality puts them in a position where they could be, potentially.

And OP, the people you refer to can’t give an answer because they don’t even know why they “hate” LGBT people. It’s mindless. They feel like they’re supposed to feel that way but they don’t really know why. It’s amazing what ignorance can do to people.

coffeenut's avatar

@Dominick also because “gay” couples (biologically) can’t have kids and religion mainly survives on the offspring of the religious folk…

JLeslie's avatar

@DominicX Your point about men being submissive is very interesting. So do you think that women’s equality indirectly helps gay people? That as society accepts women in the work force, women having financial equality, and men share in more of the domestic responsibilities, the idea of men being in charge is going away. Even the reality that the goal as an adult is not to get married, but to be independent is a change in the last 50 years I think, so the idea of women’s work, and men’s work is dwindling away. With this even men themselves are able to accept their own homosexuality easier then 50 years ago maybe?

Aster's avatar

My opinions follow and I don’t think they’re actually hated. Maybe I’m wrong.
Transgender: many people think they’re “scary.” And think they’ve “gone against Nature.” They try and cover up the fear they feel by laughing and snickering.
Gay/Lesbian: many people imagine what they do romantically and are fill in the blank. Males have been conditioned to seek out women, and only women for sexual purposes. It’s their “badge of masculinity; their manhood.” When they think of a gay guy going after another male they imagine them romantically and are fill in the blank. A minor reason is fear of what they just don’t understand. Another more prominent reason has to do with the Bible.
Now, why did I say, “fill in the blank?” Because I couldn’t think of the right word to use. If I were gay I would not want to live in Texas. It’s too macho. Many years ago my ex and I went into a west Texas cafe and he was wearing shorts. The old guys were snickering at him because his knees were showing! It’s just small-minded, vacuous attitudes.
If you are gay and have been smiled at, stared at and felt sort of smothered by a straight person and had a certain feeling, you know how straight people feel when they have a gay person doing this to them.

LuckyGuy's avatar

Ignorance. They’re afraid it’s communicable.

Kardamom's avatar

Most religions explicity frown upon gays and lesbians and transgendered folks. Most people are religious and have heard this negativity their whole lives. They have been told that it’s sinful and gross and icky and wrong. Because most people want to go along with their religious beliefs and because society hasn’t completely accepted these folks, it’s just easier to go along with the crowd rather than to have to think about it logically or compassionately. Plus a lot of straight folks are desperately afraid of “turning gay.” Because if they turned gay, they too would have to deal with being shamed and shunned. Better to be the shamer than the shunned. It’s a vicious cycle.

Aster's avatar

^^^^^^^^^^^ EXCELLENT !! GA! ICKY ! THATS THE WORD.

SamIAm's avatar

People don’t accept difference. It’s simple. and it’s sexual orientation, not something anyone can choose

Summum's avatar

But one can choose to accept or not to accept that is the question. LOL

Rarebear's avatar

Fear and ignorance.

HungryGuy's avatar

If you mean genuine hate, such opposing the right to marry and other civil rights, then the cause is probably stupidity and insecurity.

If you mean being uncomfortable around them without meaning them any harm or ill will, then probably just insecurity.

philosopher's avatar

In many cases ignorance.
I have had positive and negative experiences. They are individuals like everyone else.
I only become angry when someone does not comprehend NO.
Some gay women are as persistently annoying as men.
I have had good male gay friends.

iamthemob's avatar

I think that @Summum addressed a pretty important issue that hasn’t really been picked up on…“Hate is such a strong word.”

Hate is something distinct, and it really needs to grow from some personal investment. That’s either going to be from actual interaction or from some sort of manufactured interaction. I think it’s right that people discuss difference as an essential element. However, to take it from prejudice to actual hate the group needs to be blamed for something real or imaginary, and if imaginary the fear needs to be fairly tangible.

There are realistically very few things that are powerful enough to create this type of blame – religion and the state are pretty much the main two (they work through the media). I won’t comment on how intentional this is…that’s really not determinable. But someone always gets it – and those that challenge the status quo are the easiest target – and those that threaten property dynamics are the most choice. Therefore, anything that undermines the gender division of labor (and by extension appropriate gender roles) is particularly open to attack, as well as anything that undermines personal property rights. Gay rights, feminism, and communism are about equitable distribution, and therefore really problematic to power structures mainly male (and pretty much white). That’s why they’ve all been portrayed as thoroughly distasteful. PS – I include communism because it’s relevant, not because I think that it’s on par with civil rights disputes. I heart capitalism.

littlebeck30's avatar

There are definitely many who “hate” homosexuals.
Homosexuality has 2 sets of definitions, the definitions by religion and the definitions by society.
Interpretations of the Bible can lead many to believe that homosexuality is a choice because homosexuals can choose whether or not to express their dark sinful side or be saved by Jesus. Therefor, many religious leaders view openly gay people as sinners and bad for society.

Scientific definition is a biological combination of interior and exterior stimuli that cause homosexuality. There is no “cure”, it is all biological.

Some people hate homosexuals because they are different, some hate because they do not understand, and others hate because they believe it is evil and sinful.

I am a bisexual male who has a loving boyfriend. I have experienced some hatred, not like others though. Homosexuals are the minority and minorities usually have the least rights, the least voice, and the least pull in society.

An old saying: “A country is as moral as it treats its minorities”
Think about that…

hotgirl67's avatar

People will hate other people simply because they are different and not like themselves.

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