Inspired writing: Looking back on a draft

Key aspects:

Coming out

Relationship dynamic with my dad

My dad’s homophobic tendencies

The human rights campaign projects

Harvey Milk

My aunt Linda and her role in my internal homophobia

Coming out is like a road. There is not necessarily an ending destination. It is a process that twists and turns has dead ends. Coming out is a journey that does not have a certain end.

The human rights campaign is like a road. There are many facets to it many offshoots.  Dirt roads that still need to be paved progress that has not yet been made.  There are prejudices within society that our roadblocks and detours to the human rights campaign.  HRC is like a road it needs to be adapted to the challenges it faces potholes of ignorance need to be failed.

Etymology of homophobia

I was unable to access the Oxford English dictionary for the purpose of discovering the etymology of the term. So instead I simply Googled etymology of homophobia.  The term homophobia was attributed to being coined by clinical psychologist George Weinberg   in 1971. Breaking down the term homophobia into its two parts, homo meaning same, and phobia meaning fear or aversion to. Of course, in today’s society when we say homophobia, it does not mean fear of the same as literally translated. In today’s common usage to be homophobic is to have an irrational fear of or discriminate against homosexuals.

Source: http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/homophobia/etymology.html

Internal homophobia is like a cage except you have the key in your possession and instead of setting yourself free, you swallow it. Society puts you in the cage and then for equally irrational reasons, you stay there of your own will. Internal homophobia is like a cage; it traps you and makes you feel constricted. You cannot be your true self, because you end up hating yourself for who you are.

Internal homophobia is not like a cage, it is not a physical place in which you are physically trapped, it is a psychological trap. Internal homophobia is self-imposed as a result of expectations from society. Internal homophobia is a mental hurdle, which blocks someone from self-acceptance.