Reply #22: Never. Not in any way, ever.

[Morgana LaFey]

People still die because they are gay -- either at their own hands (tragically, often as teens) or at the hands of others, and many are forced to live diminished lives (e.g., in the closet) because they are gay.

Nor is its parent, misogynism/sexism in any way trivial, for the same reasons. Women die every day for no other reason than that they're women, and still live diminished lives because of their gender.

EVERY "small" and apprently "trivial" thing that contributes to the degraded, oppressed position of either GLBT community members or women helps keep the hatred and oppression firmly in place. And that needs to stop. It ESPECIALLY needs to stop here, at DU, where there should be virtually NO incidences of sexism or homophobia. This includes everything from "bitch" and other gender slurs used against women (any women) any and all "minor" homophobic attitudes or remarks.

People of good will of either sex owe it to themselves, to the nation and to the world to make it their business to know the issues and make themselves as discrimination-free as possible.

And all that applies to racism too.