she can take the road she's never known.

I just came across this Tumblr blog: http://not-homophobic-but.tumblr.com/

And now I’m going to go off on a rant.

People need to learn what it means to be homophobic and transphobic. Saying that you’re “not homophobic” or that you “have lots of gay friends” doesn’t automatically let you off the hook. The following remarks and statements make you homophobic:

• If a straight female says, “I’m not homophobic, but I wouldn’t want to have a lesbian as a best friend. I’d be too nervous to spend the night at their house.”
  Oh, I see. Lesbians must want to sleep with every single female they see… In the same way that I, a straight girl, want to sleep with every single male that crosses my path. Of course! Makes perfect sense.

•  My dad once said (generally speaking, not about any one gay person in particular), “I don’t care if you’re gay, as long as you don’t touch me.”
  Annnnd… my brother began to poke him. Be careful, brother! Wouldn’t want anyone to catch the gay cooties, would we?
  
  
•  If someone says, “I’m not homophobic, but seeing two men (or two women) together makes me uncomfortable.”
  Feeling uncomfortable is a type of fear. Saying that seeing a gay or lesbian couple makes you uncomfortable is to say that you fear them. Though, I can’t see what there is to be so scared about. You wouldn’t look twice if you saw a man and woman holding hands, right?
  
  
• If a straight person says, “I’m not going into a gay bar!”
  I don’t go into gay bars, either. But that’s only because I don’t go into any bars. The fact that a bar/club may be gay owned/operated, or have a large LGBT clientele, has nothing to do with me not going into one. (Because, like I said, bars in general are simply not my cup of tea.) But if you’re saying that you’re not setting foot into a gay bar simply because it’s a gay bar… That’s a homophobic remark.
  
  
• If a straight person is saying, “Okay, I’ll go into a gay bar, just as long as no one tries to hit on me.”
  Because gay people have absolutely no morals and will hit on anyone of the same sex, right? The same way a straight female walks into a bar and hits on every guy in the room simply because she’s straight and they’re guys, right? …What’s that? Oh, you don’t do that? Yea, me neither. Hmm.
  
  
• If someone says, “I’m not homophobic, but I disagree with your choice to be gay.”
  I’m not heterophobic, but I disagree with your choice to be straight. Oh, wait.
  
  

I could continue, but I would probably start to twitch in anger.

Seriously. These statements are just a few examples of homophobic remarks. And none of them are okay.

A gay person has never said to me, “I don’t care if you’re straight, as long as you don’t touch me,” or, ”I don’t care if you’re straight, as long as you don’t hold your boyfriend’s hand in public.”

They are not fearful of you, so why are you fearful of them? It’s silly. You’re fearing love.

And if it eases your little minds any, out of all the LGBT events I’ve been to, I have never been hit on by another woman. Though, if I was, I would not be offended by any means. I would take it as a compliment because another human being sees something beautiful about me.

And I’ll tell you what. This straight girl can. not. wait. to put on her rainbows and march in our Pride parade again this year. The gay human rights movement is the civil rights movement of today, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that all humans get equal rights in my lifetime, and that includes eliminating homophobia and transphobia.

Moral of the story?

Think before you speak. Watch what you say, how you say it, and who you say it to. Just because your sentence starts with, “I’m not homophobic, but…”, or, “I have a lot of gay friends, but…” doesn’t make the statement that follows it okay or unoffensive.