RTE and the IONA Institute
The recent social media
furor over RTE's apology for calling John Waters and Breda O' Brien
'homophobic' centered essentially around one word. One of the more
bizarre statements I read while browsing the #IONA twitter stream was
that 'homophobic is a word with a developing meaning’. A quick
Google check of the 3 most dependable dictionaries in the world
reveals a common definition of the word ‘homophobic’:
The Oxford dictionary
defines it as ‘an extreme and irrational aversion to homosexuality
and homosexual people’, the Collins dictionary defines it as ‘a
strong and unreasonable dislike of homosexual people’ and the
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines homophobic as ‘irrational fear
of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or
homosexuals’. There was no noticeable difference between the
definitions, neither was there anything to indicate that the
definition was in a state of continual change.
Each definition describes
an attitude which is unreasonable and has no basis in reality or
fact. Homophobia is one
of thousands of phobias, all of which are described as irrational.
Phobias are indefensible attitudes, cannot sensibly stand up for
themselves, own no logical or credible arguments and are
unpredictable. In fact a phobia is termed by some mental health
experts as a psychiatric condition, requiring medical attention. The
Philadelphia Mental Health Clinic says that for a person with a
phobia, ‘exposure to the object or situation causes an immediate
anxiety response or a panic attack’. These responses can range from
screaming, washing hands and clothes after contact, heart
palpitations, sweaty palms, adrenaline rush and extreme fear to
feelings of impending doom and the avoiding of public or unfamiliar
places. Treatment of phobias has many forms including cognitive
behavior therapy and the learning of basic techniques such as muscle
relaxation, deep breathing and refocusing skills.
The
Daily Mail recently carried the story of a woman, Diane Freelove,
who has Chloephobia, a phobia of newspapers. She must wash her hands
after touching one, and says that if she sees a newspaper flash up on
the TV screen , 'I must physically turn away'. If she has to buy a
newspaper for some else, she uses gloves and a plastic bag to pick it
up. Her phobia is extreme and inexplainable, yet it is a genuine
problem for her. More common phobias include agoraphobia- fear of
being in a place without being able to leave, claustrophobia - fear
of being closed in and acrophobia - fear of flying.
Homophobia
is, accordingly, an irrational fear of homosexual behavior and
people who practice homosexuality. One would imagine that people with
this condition have panic attacks and scream when they see or hear
anything related to homosexuality, wash their hands and clothes after
contact with homosexuals and generally avoid public places for fear
they might meet a 'gay' person. All of the above would be irrational
and unreasonable responses. John Waters and Breda O' Brien were
called 'homophobic' recently on the Saturday Night Show; however I
have yet to see John Waters experience a panic attack or Breda
O'Brien start screaming loudly when faced with anything relating to
homosexuality. Rather their responses to a lifestyle they disagree
with have been measured, civilized, calm and always well-supported –
in other words, reasonable and rational. Thence the obvious
necessity for an apology from RTE. Also there is no doubt that any
legal proceedings taken by Waters or O'Brien would most likely be
overwhelmingly successful.
Moreover,
it is ridiculous to term 'homophobic' as a word with a 'developing'
meaning. It is the sign of a dishonest and unprincipled lobby group
to begin restructuring and redefining when it is convenient for
themselves. To call someone 'homophobic' is a serious declaration and
one with extremely defamatory undertones. In the upcoming Same-Sex
Marriage debate it would be nice to think that a educated and mature
contribution can be made by the opposing side without that side being
labelled irrational and unreasonable - simply because they hold a
viewpoint that mainstream media disagrees with. If such a debate is
rendered impossible due to bigoted name-calling, it will be a
grievous slur on the professed democratic nature of our country.
