Homophobia
Homophobia – from the Greek homos, meaning “same” or “identical,” and phobos, meaning “fear” – an umbrella term referring to various forms of negative reaction toward homosexuality.
The term homophobia was first used by the American psychiatrist George Weinberg in his 1972 book Society and the Healthy Homosexual. He defined homophobia as “the dread of being in close quarters with homosexuals” (Weinberg, 1972, p. 4).
The European Parliament resolution “Homophobia in Europe,” adopted on 18 January 2006, defines homophobia as “an irrational fear of and aversion to homosexuality and to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, based on prejudice similar to racism, xenophobia, antisemitism and sexism” (European Parliament, 2006).
References:
Weinberg, G. (1972). Society and the Healthy Homosexual. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
European Parliament. (2006, January 18). European Parliament resolution on homophobia in Europe. Strasbourg. Retrieved from http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2006-0018+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN
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