Famous 10 Homophobes

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Society today boasts of such diversity that it is no longer limited to race, class, and gender. It has morphed into something more complex to make it more agreeable to the times. African-Americans are no longer classified as blacks or as Negroes as these terms are now perceived as politically inappropriate and offensive. Truth be told, even gender nowadays is being questioned. With the rampant increase of the so-called ‘third sex,’ gender is now not only classified as male or female, now there are what we call the lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and the transgenders. Although most people are open to these type of people in society, there are those who abhor it and make no qualms in showing their distaste. These people are those called homophobes.

1. Michel Maye

Michel Maye
Michel Maye

Michel Maye was a New York firefighter who, in 1972, was charged with brutally beating a gay protester. Maye was also a boxing champion. At the time he was charged with the gay beating, he was the head of the New York Firefighter’s Union. He was acquitted due to unreliable witness accounts. Many perceived him as discriminatory, but he was quick to say that he was only misunderstood. He believed that gays should not be flaunting their ways in public, and that they should not be teaching in schools or working in the fire department.

2. Robert Mugabe

Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe

Robert Mugabe is Zimbabwe’s President. He was once a member of the guerilla movements that opposed white-minority rule. He was Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister from 1980-1987. Mugabe has been accused by many as having a racist attitude towards white people; he, on the other hand, accuses the United States of America and the United Kingdom as being imperialists. His take on homosexuality has always been firm. Lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders have no rights whatsoever in Zimbabwe. This is due to the legislation in September, 1995 banning all homosexual acts. He was once quoted as saying that ‘Lesbians and gays are worse than dogs and pigs.’

3. Mike Royko

Mike Royko
Mike Royko

Mike Royko was born on September 19, 1942 and died on April 29, 1997. He was a newspaper columnist and a winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 1972. He wrote for three Chicago newspapers namely Chicago Tribune, Chicago Daily News, and Chicago Sun-Times. His columns were syndicated nationally to over 600 newspapers, and the topics of his jokes were mainly about gays. In 1994, he was arrested for drunk driving and was speaking anti-gay words.

4. John Briggs

John Briggs
John Briggs

John Briggs is a former California senator. He is famous for his support of Proposition 6 also known as the Briggs Initiative in 1978. The proposition was an attempt by the said former senator to ban all gays and lesbians from having jobs in the schools. But it did not stop there. The proposition also cited that supporters of gays and lesbians were also to be banned or removed from their jobs.  As expected, this measure was not passed. His contempt for gays and lesbians could be best summed up by this remark when asked of what he thought of gay teachers ‘Most of them are in the closet, and frankly, that’s where they should remain.’

5. Laura Sclessinger

Laura Sclessinger
Laura Sclessinger

Laura Schlessinger was born on January 16, 1947. She is a radio talk show host, an author, marriage and family counselor, and a socially conservative commentator. She earned her master’s and Ph.D. in physiology in 1974 at Columbia University. As an author, her books are mostly of the self-help genre, and among the books that she was known for are Ten Stupid Things Women Do To Mess Up Their Lives and The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands. Her fame in radio caused Paramount Domestic Television to sign her up for a TV talk show in 2000. This venture, however, was short-lived due mainly to her anti-gay remark that ‘homosexuality is a biological error.’

6. Phyllis Schlafly

Phyllis Schlafly
Phyllis Schlafly

Phyllis Schlafly was born on August 15, 1924 in St. Louis, Missouri. She is a Constitutional lawyer, conservative activist, and author. She also founded the Eagle Forum in 1972. The Eagle Forum is an organization that focuses on social issues and is said to be a pro-family organization with over 80,000 members. Schlafly opposed the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s, and to further make her opposition known, she started the STOP ERA campaign. Many viewed her opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment as contradictory to her lifestyle. The ERA, according to Schlafly, would endanger the privileges being enjoyed by women specifically the housewives. Critics said that Schlafly enjoyed equal rights and was able to achieve her dreams, but her opposition to the ERA showed that she was only out there to look after her own interests. Linking of same-sex marriages and civil unions among gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders was among the many issues that made her oppose the ERA.

7. Fred Cherry

Mayor Ed Koch
Mayor Ed Koch

Fred Cherry was born April 15, 1926 and died on July 30, 2003. He had a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, and with the publication of his theory with the collaboration of E. T. Parker and Walter Wallis of the orthogonal pairs of doubly diagonal Latin squares of the order of 10 made him a part of mathematics history. It completed the proof that pairs do exist in all orders and not just in 2, 3, and 6. He also became notoriously famous for his lawsuit against the New York Mayor Ed Koch. In his lawsuit, he tried to overturn the law banning prostitution. He cited that with his disability, the only way he could have a sexual relationship was with a prostitute. He further cited that this violated his equal protection rights. Although the lawsuit was dismissed, he gained popularity as an activist for the rights of ‘Johns’ or clients of prostitutes. He also held the belief that there was an organized group of homosexuals in America who were conspiring against his right to patronize prostitutes.

8. Dan White

White's headstone.
Dan White’s headstone.

Daniel James White, or better known as Dan White, was the man who shot and killed Mayor George Moscone and Harvey Milk on November 27, 1978 at the San Francisco City Hall. Moscone was San Francisco’s mayor, and Milk was a supervisor. Dan White, prior to the killings of Moscone and Milk, was also a San Francisco supervisor. He resigned from his post citing his dissatisfaction and the on-going corrupt practices inside city hall on November 10 but withdrew it on November 14 which Mayor Moscone had accepted. According to reports, Moscone changed his mind upon the urgings of Milk and other supervisors. This prompted White to return to city hall on November 27 and commit  the crime. Although the killings were to most people premeditated, White was convicted of manslaughter not murder. He was imprisoned for seven years, and two years after his release he committed suicide.

9. David Bahati

David Bahati
David Bahati

David Bahati is an influential Ugandan politician. He was born on August 6, 1973 and is an MP in the Ugandan Parliament. He is also a member of Uganda’s ruling party National Resistance Movement as well as a core member of The Family. The Family is a U.S.-based evangelical and political organization. Bahati attended several colleges and universities including Cardiff University, Wharton School, and the University of Pennsylvania. He has a bachelor’s degree in commerce and a master’s degree in business administration. In 2009, he proposed The Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill that would make homosexual acts as an offense punishable by death. He has insisted in an interview that homosexuals are recruiting children to become gays and has expressed his want to have all gays killed.

10. Pat Robertson

Pat Robertson
Pat Robertson

Pat Robertson is a former Southern Baptist minister and former Presidential candidate. He was born in Lexington, Virginia and is from a political family. Robertson has addressed controversial topics when he was a commentator and minister. He strongly believes that his prayers were strong enough to turn away natural disasters as that of Hurricane Gloria in the 1980’s.  He also strongly objects to views on feminism, homosexuality, abortion, and even liberal college professors. Robertson also believes that homosexuals are the cause or to be blamed for natural disasters such as the earthquake in Southern California, Hurricane Andrew, and the famine in East Africa. He also cited that some Protestant congregations actually do not propagate the belief in Christ but of the Antichrist.

 

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