Dear Editor,

May 17 was observed as the International Day Against Homophobia. It is, therefore, an opportune time to register our objection to the word and more specifically to its current usage. A phobia is defined as an irrational fear, and in any other setting the word is assumed to carry that meaning.

Homophobia is used to describe any action, idea or statement that reflects a rejection or criticism of homosexuality or indeed anything that falls short of a positive affirmation of its associated behaviour.

The perverted use of the word is not due merely to an error in the use of English. Instead, this represents a strategy to label, intimidate and silence those who do not support or affirm homosexuality.

The owner of Chic-fil-A was labelled a “homophobic bigot” for his defence of heterosexual marriage. So what adjective would be used to describe the French homosexuals who objected to the recognition of gay “marriage”?

In 2012, the Lancet reported that men who have sex with men (MSMs) is the only group with increasing HIV prevalence rates in countries of all income levels, and that these rates are 100 times higher in black MSMs than in the general population.

Additionally, the journal AIDS Behaviour in 2011 reported that despite significant increases in rights, HIV prevalence is disproportionately high and increasing among MSMs in the United States.

Violence against homosexuals is not a phobia; it is criminal behaviour that should be punished under the law. Discouraging the homosexual lifestyle would seem to be a very rational thing. Indeed, to do otherwise would reflect an irrational fear of the homosexual political lobby.

Dr Wayne West

Chairman JCHS