“I think that if you feel homosexuality is wrong, it is not a phobia, it is an opinion.”

The term “homo-phobia” is regularly misused in the American culture to label someone who considers homosexuality to be unhealthy or “wrong”. The clinical basis for diagnosing a patient with a phobia requires that the patient has a debilitating physiological response to the stimulus of the phobia. This includes anxiety, increased heart rate, sweating, and dizziness. Phobias also do not require the phobic to have a negative opinion of the stimulus. For example, if a person has a generalized fear of dogs they will show the physiological symptoms associated with the phobia when in the presence of a dog, even if their opinion of dogs is a good one. Often these individuals will experience fear-related anxiety to images of dogs or to a stuffed animal in the shape of a dog, despite their rational understand that the images or the stuffed animal can not bite them. A more accurate example of “homo-phobia” would be a person who has these physiological responses to a known homosexual stimulus out of fear of physical endangerment. With the diseases that are associated with homosexuals, particularly acquired immune deficiency syndrome, it is possible that the term “homo-phobia” originated from cautiousness toward homosexuals out of fear of acquiring a disease that homosexuals may carry. While the fear in this case is only indirectly associated with homosexuals, as disease such as acquired immune deficiency syndrome could be acquired elsewhere, this situation could result in a physiological authentic phobia. Other situations such as post traumatic stress based phobias form a homosexually childhood molestation could accurately be termed “homo phobia”.
The quote in question does not claim that “homo-phobia” does not exist, only that feeling homosexuality is wrong does not qualify as a phobia. The words “fear” and “concern” should also be used carefully in referring to public opinion of homosexuality. Many parents are concerned that their children may be at risk among homosexuals. Current scientific research suggests that homosexuality is the result of both biological and developmental factors. Is it possible that homosexual relationships could influence psychosexual development? Originally, homosexuality was classified a neurological disorder, even a disease. Concern about the scientific reality of homosexuality is reasonable and does not necessarily constitute fear. To extend “concerned opinion” to “phobia” is must often a blatantly incorrect diagnosis.
The final aspect of this quote that I would like to reflected on is of whom is calling whom “homo-phobic”. The relationship between the opinions involves a healthy control group and a potentially contagious diseased group of the homosexuals. The homosexuals in a sense have nothing to lose. They are the end of an evolutionary chain. Heterosexuals, however, have everything to lose as they are still alive in an evolutionary sense. Heterosexuals likely have concern for at least their own genetic involvement in the future. If heterosexual concern can be called phobic, than homosexual carelessness could be called sociopathic.

— Bobby Walker

i could not be bothered to read your post it was way to long... but i think that if same sex couples want to get married, the law here should not stop them. if they love each other theres nothing wrong with that... as long as they're not affectionate in public, that just makes people sick.

bobby your texts are too long no one will have the time to read all that. Make your texts short for fans of yours (no, not me). As fo gays getting married I don't think that should happen. They can get a pax pact like in France but they should not be allowed to adopt. U.S. is a funny country; too liberal in some ways and too conservative in other ways. It should be middle ground & get rid of their surplus of lawyers.Go USA none the less.

Let lesbians get married and require them to have public sex at least once a week in a park, and dont let fags get married because I cant picture 2 men giving eachother the tounge, its too grose

In Belgium gays and lesbians can marry together and it is discussed to let them adopt babies. And I don't think we're perverse or something.

If accepted, it would be only the third country in the whole world where it is permitted (after, I think, Sweden and the Netherland).

There is nothing wrong with same sex couples to adopt... If it's allright for a crackwhore lesbian and gay transvestite (still with a penis tucked(mangina) but breast implants also) to conceive a child as result of too much weed and coke and speed and e and god only knows what else at a strictly gay orgy at kings cross and then dump the child with one set of grandparents and not contact him or bother with him for 17 years, then i think that is very much ok for regular same sex couples to adopt... And by the way, that child is really messed up, full goth and cuts himself, he looks a bit like a fatty with a giant head and he has square feet, he spent $500 on the most hideous pair of boots imaginable. Not to mention hes one of the ugliest people i have ever seen in my whole entire life... For same sex couples they would have pretty extensive checks to make sure they're normal. And there should not be anything wrong with marriage, if two ugly people were to marry, seeing them kiss is way worse than good looking gay couples... i cant be bothered reading what ive written or writing anything else so that is all.

Everyone has his own opinion on the subject. I'm not american but I believe in some U.S. states it is legal for gay couples to adopt. My personal opinion is that this should not be legalized & that gays should not be married. I'm not homophobe but gays can't have kids and should not be encouraged to act like straight people. Having said that, homsexuality is a normal thing.

okay-..i'm sure there are more out there who feel like i do -i dont pretend to understand their orientation even though i have read some of the scientific & sociological stuff, i dont think religion or politics shoudl get involved with personal choices to ban or make someone an outcast re:their sexual prefernence. basically i don't care what a persons preference is as long as i dont get hit on by my own gender. if that makes me phobic, so be it. but 'they' deserve same rights as everyone else. there are more important issues to worry about.

p.s almost forgot - re:adoptions. just because gays have a nutruting side doesn't mean they are trying to pretend a straight lifestyle. besides sex, their lifestyles are pretty much the same. and i have seen plenty of messed up parenting with heterosexual couples - just look at some tennis parents.

omg tennis parents are the worst types... some players are lucky because theyre parents arent tennis parents but those with tennis parents i feel very sorry for. imagine having parents living through u. they r so strict and terrible its unbelievable the extremes parents will go through to push their kids. like losing a match and having to run 20km's home or having to train on court for 4 hrs after losing... or for winning a tournament and getting a reward of something like a lolipop or pack of starburst. woohoo that hard work really paid off im sure. tennis parents are just disgusting. theyre children 99.97% of the time are talentless or not going anywhere and just waste years of their lives going through hell because of their pushy parents. getting pulled out of school and doing correspondence, training 6 hrs a day on court 3-5 off court, being isolated from friends and social events... mind you this is from an early age... some kids are deprived of some of the best experimental years of their lives because of pushy parents like from the age of 12-18 and then they relise they dont have talent, dont have any real friends, are still virgins to women alcohol, drugs, sex, music and clubbing, do not have any education then they quit tennis without looking back and go to hard to fast and after a month are heroin addicts.... tennis parents need to know that theyre making little heroin addicts everywhere because it happens.

I know there are plenty of dykes on the womens tour (my fav. is amelie, she is one sexy chic!) but are there any shit stabbers on the men's tour?

I think I am right in saying that Bill Tilden was gay, and of course there was Renee Richards. What ever happened to him/her?

Renee Richards is a guy and will always remain a guy no matter what. Why are you so interested in knowing who is gay on mens tour. I'm no homophobe but kudos to any gay men on the tour who don't want to expose their private lives to the media.

Gambill is gay for sure.

so what. he's still a great person. and good (but not great anymore) tennis player - but still better than most on this board.

Unless you've actually slept with him... I know it's the most popular rumor in tennis, but he's not.