Many of us have an encounter with a homophobic person almost daily. Some of us may even be that homophobic person. We may receive homophobic messages from our churches, from the media, from jokes or even from the government. But the question is where does this homophobia stem from? Is it our families, friends, religion, society, even our education? Many philosophers believe it comes from many of these different aspects. I have narrowed it down to several that I believe are the main causes of homophobia.
             We must first identify the four main types of homophobia: personal, interpersonal, institutional, and cultural. "Personal homophobia is prejudice based on a personal belief that lesbian, gay and bisexual people are sinful, immoral, sick, inferior to heterosexuals, or incomplete women or men" (http://www.ruf.rice.edu) These are words you commonly hear when referring to homosexuals. Interpersonal homophobia is when lesbians, gays and bisexuals are physically assaulted for no reason except that of their sexual orientation. Examples of this are when relatives shun their lesbian, gay or bisexual family members, heterosexual friends of homosexuals don't want to hear about their homosexual friends relationships, or co-workers of lesbians, gays and bisexual are distant or cold. Institutional homophobia is the many ways that organizations, government, churches and businesses discriminate against homosexuals. Examples include when religious organizations have made implications about their policies against homosexuals, and governments fail to insure the rights of all citizens, regardless of their sexual orientation. Last but not least is cultural homophobia. Cultural homophobia is the social standard that dictates that being heterosexual is better or more moral than being a homosexual. These four types of homophobia all stem from various possible causes, three are discussed below.
             A first possible cause is that some...