Homophobia, transphobia, and biphobia are like a disease found in the majority of heterosexuals and few homosexuals. These are people who are shallow minded and believe that anyone who is not a heterosexual does not deserve to be alive or should change their sexual orientation. When we asked these homophobes on why do they even say things like these in the first place? They either call it unnatural, a sin or a mental illness and according to them it's important to raise their voices, or their kids might get affected.
Also Read: Signs you might be a 'Closeted Homophobic'
Hey, first of all, if you are from the community and reading this article we are sure that there was at least once in your lifetime you would have come across this type of comment, whether it was directed to you or someone else. We usually get to hear these comments right from our educational institute, our workplace, our social gatherings, by strangers or on social media. We know that the majority of people would recommend you to avoid such comments, but if it goes out of hand, below mentioned are some tips and tricks you can use to shut these people down.
When you come across a homophobic comment in person.
When you hear someone directing a homophobic comment towards your or someone else, its always recommended to always interrupt them by asking them to stop! But there are very rare chances that they would stop. If they don't, it's your responsibility to inform them that they are discriminating or being homophobic. It's important to make them realise that whatever they just said was wrong and hurtful, and make them apologise. If the person who is trying to be homophobic your friend, try to educate them and do necessary changes to make sure that this never happens again. If this happens to some stranger in your presence, there is nothing wrong in defending the victim and comforting them.
When you come across a homophobic comment on social media.
First of all, it's important for you to remember that they don't have the guts to talk to people’s faces and hence they use their mobiles and computers to spread hate. They would either write offensive and homophobic captions, make meme’s, publish stories or comment on your post’s. Well, you could try to confront them and shame them publicly, but the majority of the time that wouldn’t work, as they would keep abusing you or like cowards would delete their post/comment. The best solution in this situation is to delete the comment if it's on your profile and make sure you report them on that social media platform.