Lovesong of the Day:
All Night by Little Winter
⚠ Homophobia ⚠
As typical of weekends, nothing happened. So, today is a lesson day. This one is about all different types of queerphobia in red state schools. I'm not sure how bad of an issue this is in blue states or non-american schools, but I live in a red state and oh my god this is a massive, yet rarely addressed and subtle problem.
So, what does this have anything to do with being a hypegirl? Well, not only is this a topic I'm very passionate about, but it also impacts how open I can be when doing my thing as a hypegirl. Also, being a hypegirl, for me specifically, means being socially smart and altering my technique accordingly.
One of the clearest types of queerphobia present here is individual queerphobia. This is the one that most people tend to think of when they think of homophobia and it also splits into multiple different subgroups. From religion-based slander, to casual slur-singing, to full-on hate crimining, this one is everywhere. There isn't strong group or social motivations for this one, although a lot of homophobes do hang around other homophobes. That's kinda how it happens.
As somewhat of an add-on to the previous type, there's exclusionary homoeroticism. This is when those people who "act gay" turn around and exhibit individual queerphobia. This is ESPECIALLY common amongst boys, in fact I'd say most guys who are individually homophobic put on a performance of homoeroticism. I can name a very specific instance of a guy, who partook in ✨activities✨️ with another guy in the football locker room, literally saying the f-slur right in front of me.
For one VERY specific to the red states, there's queerphobia in school and state policy. For school policy, there aren't any that I can recall of the top of my head for my school. However, an example of that would be the banning of pride attire and the punishment of positive queer speech within schools. I don't mean social punishment, but getting in trouble with the school for it. State policy is a that more transparent here. For example, I believe my state has laws against queer sex education, I'll definitely need to fact-check that one though. This type helps to further normalize queerphobia by forcing it into schools through policy.
Finally, there's stereotyping and reputation. This one functions as both a fear and a system. As a system, this is when openly LGBTQ kids are isolated from a lot of the non-LGBTQ kids. When you're known as "the gay kid" "the trans kid" or "the gay kids", the general student population will feel a certain type of way about you. In a school like mine, there's a chance your reputation will suffer while out. Now, there are lots of exceptions to this, however being open about your sexuality can do harm, especially if you're introverted and present in a manner that is associated with the queer community.
As a fear, it forces lots of people into the closet. This is a motivator for W being in the closet as well as likely being one for C and M being in the closet too. The harm that being out can do puts a lot of queer folk in a difficult position, where many choose to hide their authentic selves in one way or another.