Homophobia is not a problem in league

slippykitten·5/21/2015, 5:52:29 PM·3 votes·339 views

In every community behavior discussion Riot likes to use the word homophobia as a reason to ban people, but apparently they aren't entirely aware of the meaning.

A phobia is a fear, and homophobia is a fear of homosexuals or homosexuality in general. Calling someone a "%%%" in chat is not an example of a fear of homosexuality. It may be insensitive, or not politically correct, but it certainly isn't a phobia.

Riot, call things what they are. Don't throw around buzz words that make things seem like something they are not. If you want to ban people for derogatory speech towards gays, go ahead, but be honest about it.

7 Comments

Drunk Rummate5/21/2015, 6:10:27 PM5 votes

Homophobia means fear of homosexuality in a literal sense, but definitions often transcend their literal meaning. A great example of this is the word "literally," which people commonly use as slang/emphasis when referring to something figurative. Ex: "That was literally retarded." If you google the word homophobia, the first definition brought up is "dislike of or prejudice against homosexual people." So Riot is not necessarily wrong in their use of it.

BeerOfRoot48435/21/2015, 6:43:43 PM3 votes

Every definition I look up suggests that homophobia is either a fear or dislike. Not just fear. Where'd you get this notion that homophobia's strictly a phobia?

And if you're right, why is a poor choice of words such a big deal when you get what they're trying to say anyway? We're not banning people for being irrationally scared of stuff.

air tiger5/21/2015, 10:01:59 PM2 votes

How about this.. if you call someone a fag in an attempt to insult them, you are inferring that being gay is less than you. It's elitist, prejudiced toxicity. Not that the lol kids doing this will understand what's wrong with that, because children.