haku, there is a quote from William James (an early psychologist with whom Gertrude Stein studied), where he says: "Never reject anything. Nothing has been proved. If you reject anything, that is the beginning of the end of you as an intellectual." Why do you believe that there should be no discrimination between people based on gender, sexual orientation, etc., and dismiss something like homophobia out of hand, without even thinking about it, 'how stupid for someone to believe that'? There are no 'givens' here, after all ... the idea of 'basic human rights' didn't exist 1000 years ago; what makes you so sure today that it's so obvious the question of 'proof' or 'argument' doesn't even enter the picture?
It used to be that races were thought inherently different, some inferior to others; this was a 'given' at one time, in one culture, one society. Today a majority of civilization holds that that people of different races shouldn't be discriminated against, but mammals other than humans can be treated as fundamentally different: at the most basic level that's discrimination based upon species ... maybe one day that sort of discrimination will be treated as contemptuously as discrimination against races is today. What I want to point out is that there are no 'facts' here ... not that all morality is relative, necessarily, but if someone has a different opinion than you, then as long as both are respectful in stating how they think/feel, there should be no need for anyone to feel that the other is the scum of the earth just for holding that opinion ... as long as everything is discussed intelligently and non-offensively, with an open mind and a sense of humor and without taking everything so seriously, then everything's cool.
We're all responsible adults here and should be able to discuss things from our different viewpoints... Anyway that's how I see it.