"Heterophobia" isn't real, but prejudice can be

Hey everyone! I kinda just made an account because of the vicious debate about heterophobia on this website, and as a straight person and an ally to the LGBTQA+ community I wanted to give my two cents and hopefully arrive at a conclusion most people could accept :)

I don't think heterophobia is a real thing. When you try to define heterophobia the same way homophobia is defined the definition automatically includes oppression and active discrimination, which is something straight people will never face. The use of the term heterophobia makes light of homophobia, whether it intends to or not, and I don't think straight people should use it in a situation where they think they are simply being disliked for their sexuality.

However, I do think it is possible for people to dislike and have prejudice against straight people just for being straight. I understand that the straights most of these jokes refer to are those who do not support the LGBT+ community, but by generalizing straight people and making jokes that are meant to be or can simply be seen as mean (ex. "straggot," "breeder," "straight people should go die," "straight people should get off this site"), you're only spreading unfounded hatred to people who don't deserve it. Moreover, on a website like Mangago, where many mangas depict gay or lesbian couples, I think a majority of users are LGBT+ friendly no matter their sexualities. I am a WOC and I've been through difficult situations and seen friends of mine discriminated against because of our gender, skin color, or cultural background, but that doesn't excuse me or any other WOC from doing the same thing to all white people or all men. The same principle applies to straight and LGBT+ people. If we are trying to reduce hate and encourage education and acceptance, we cannot fight hate with hate. Like others have said, by responding to hate with hate and generalizing groups of people, whether they are the majority or the minority, we're only making the problem worse and helping the very homophobes we're making fun of find new (stupid) reasons to attack the LGBT+ community.

Most importantly, a human should be given the basic right to be respected, and by disrespecting straight people for their sexuality, you're making them feel uncomfortable and hurt. If a person considers a comment mean or offensive, just stop. I don't understand why that's so hard. I don't think (most) of the other people posting about this consider these jokes oppressive - it's just that they can be mean, and they'd like for those comments to stop. In the end, if someone says a comment makes them feel uncomfortable, they should be respected. Would you continue to make jokes in real life about people if they openly said it made them feel uncomfortable?

A bit tangential, but this entire situation reminds me of the part in Hidamari ga Kikoeru when Deaf people were making fun of Taichi when he visited their game company just because he couldn't understand sign language and could hear. Just because the Deaf community is a minority that is discriminated against doesn't make it ok for them to make fun of Taichi, much like how just because the LGBT+ community is a minority that is discriminated against down't make it ok for them to make fun of straights for being straight.

TLDR: Treat people how you want to be treated, no matter their sexuality (or race or gender, etc). If someone asks you to stop doing something because they find it mean, then stop.

Anyway, I hope I've made my position on this clear and have not offended anybody! Let me know if there's something I've overlooked or don't understand :)

P.S. I've seen many people mention that straights don't have the right to feel disrespected by such comments because the LGBT+ community goes through so much oppression and being offended makes light of that. I am not denying the problems the LGBT+ community faces. Some of my closest friends are queer, and I know first-hand how much the possibility of not being accepted by family and friends stresses them out. However, using the fact that many queer people are at risk for their lives just for being who they are as a defense for continuing to make jokes that upset straights is overkill and can be disrespectful both to those who have lost their lives because of their sexuality and the LGBT+ movement itself.