I know I said this back in Slowpoke's 2010s thread, but I just wanna say this. I was only a KID back in the 2000s. Sure, I known about mainstream culture in the late 2000s, but that doesn't mean I approved of anti-gay culture back then. Barely anybody mentioned what homosexuality was to me back then, and kid culture didn't even care back then. I think if you watched South Park or any other show back in the 2000s, then you'll know what it is. However, I didn't really care. Even to this day, I'm neutral over LGBT rights and politics. I never actually paid attention about gay people being married until the early 2010s, when it was getting popular in the United States. I know some people would disagree with me on this, but that's just my thoughts.

I don't think anyone was accusing you of anything :o

I don't think anyone was accusing you of anything :o


Okay. But I was just giving out my point to everybody.

I love the '00s as much as anybody, but, yeah, it was pretty terrible back then. There's no point in sugarcoating it. I was in high school from 2001-2005, which was basically "ground zero" when it came to anti-gay sentiment. Hell, people were probably even less accepting then than they were in the early '90s. George W. Bush actually made it alot worse in 2004 by turning gay marriage into such a major campaign issue, even though, in the end, it did help him get re-elected. I remember even more kids getting picked on for "acting gay" after it got turned into such a huge national discussion.

Actually, I think Columbine played a role in this, too. At least around where I went to school, there was this misconception that the so-called "trenchcoat mafia" were gay, so pretty much any kid that was thought of as being gay, or was goth, or even played video games too much, was ostracized for a while after that. Back in those days, being "different" was definitely not celebrated in the same way it is today. :(

People were less accepting of others in the 00's compared to both the 90s and 2010's no doubt. I love the 00's, but there is no denying it was a very racist and homophobic decade. Even I noticed that as a kid. The 00's were horrible for social issues. The 2010's are much better for that which I like. But having said that, the 00's are still the best decade.

People were less accepting of others in the 00's compared to both the 90s and 2010's no doubt. I love the 00's, but there is no denying it was a very racist and homophobic decade. Even I noticed that as a kid. The 00's were horrible for social issues. The 2010's are much better for that which I like. But having said that, the 00's are still the best decade.


Racism, as in Islamophobia or something like that? Conservatives thought most Muslims were terrorists during the 2000s. And homophobia was pretty obvious during the 2000s.

Racism, as in Islamophobia or something like that? Conservatives thought most Muslims were terrorists during the 2000s. And homophobia was pretty obvious during the 2000s.


There was a lot of anti-Hispanic racism in the US in the 2000s from what I remember. In 2004 there was scapegoating of illegal immigrants for the high unemployment rate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Protection,_Anti-terrorism_and_Illegal_Immigration_Control_Act_of_2005

I don't think the 2010s are any less racist than the 2000s, probably more if anything, but not sure how to quantify that.

There was a lot of anti-Hispanic racism in the US in the 2000s from what I remember. In 2004 there was scapegoating of illegal immigrants for the high unemployment rate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Protection,_Anti-terrorism_and_Illegal_Immigration_Control_Act_of_2005

I don't think the 2010s are any less racist than the 2000s, probably more if anything, but not sure how to quantify that.


Wow. I'm not that surprised, since America is still focused on blaming illegal immigrants for jobs and sh*t. Especially when Donald f*cking Trump saying that he'll build a wall in the US-Mexico borders, because of illegal immigrants.

Wow. I'm not that surprised, since America is still focused on blaming illegal immigrants for jobs and sh*t. Especially when Donald f*cking Trump saying that he'll build a wall in the US-Mexico borders, because of illegal immigrants.


Well, yeah, it's not a new excuse. People want someone else to blame for their shortcomings and the person who speaks a foreign language is an easy target.

I remember Eminem's Marshall Mathers LP getting a lot of attention for very homophobic lyrics and the Dudebro culture mentality didn't really help things much.

After stumbling across this thread whilst looking through older threads, I couldn't help but share my thoughts on this topic, because it's something that I do have memories of.

First of all, I would like to say that I realise that this is a very sensitive topic and I apologise if anything I say is upsetting. I was never supportive of this mindset and whilst I am guilty of thinking in this manner at the time, it was something that I was socialised into believing, because it was "normal". It wasn't something I intentionally set out to believe in. My post is simply based on what I have experienced and witnessed in relation to the topic.

In retrospect, the 2000s were a terrible decade for the accepting of others. Everyone was expected to hold the same viewpoint and generally act in the same manner. Being unique simply wasn't accepted in society. Here in Australia, there was actually a massive race riot in a Sydney suburb back in 2005, as a result of tensions between young White Australians and youths from the Lebanese community. Thousands of people were involved in it and it received extensive media coverage at the time. It's appalling that this mindset existed as recently as it did. In many ways, it's almost as if the 2000s were a step backwards from the 90s and even the 80s, to a certain extent.

When I was in primary school, I can remember kids at my school calling things "gay" if they thought something was stupid. It was something you frequently heard in the back playground and even in the classroom. The worst part was, nobody ever questioned it. It was considered "normal", which is a really horrible thought.

One of my best friends in primary school came out as being homosexual shortly after we finished primary school. Unfortunately, he used to be criticised a lot by other people during our first year in High School (2012), which was probably due to the fact that all of the cohorts at High School at the time retained this same mental attitude. Some of the comments he received were really nasty and he never received any apologies for them either. It was horrible to witness. If I were to make an estimate as to the "2000s anti-gay" mentality largely disappeared, I would say that it would be 2013. This is just my personal opinion, but it felt as though popular culture started to became more accepting of people of all different sexuality and backgrounds, especially around the time of Pharrel Williams' "Happy" being released and the strong emergence of Hipster culture. Concurrently, my High School started to promote equality for the LGBTI community.

In all honesty, I used to have the same mentality when I was a child in the 2000s, because it's something that I had been socialised into believing. I just didn't know any different. I'm sorry if I upset anyone with this, but generally speaking, the thought of two men or women kissing each other was viewed as being 'disgusting' or 'odd'. Admittedly, I even used to think this at the time. It was a mindset which was largely encouraged by the media, as well as society as a whole.

I don't know how anyone can degrade a person simply based on their sexuality. Someone's sexuality does not define who they are. People need to realise that the LGBTI community have their own qualities, just like everyone else. Their sexuality shouldn't result in them being treated or viewed any differently. Unfortunately, there are still some people in our society who continue to be naive and negative in their views on sexuality. Those type of people have no hope in ever changing their views drastically, because they simply aren't good human beings. There's a difference between someone who is misinformed about sexuality and someone who is educated about it, but simply chooses to treat homosexual people poorly. Despite efforts to remove the stigma, the latter will always be a minority in society.

Coincidentally, Sydney's Mardi-Gra parade is on in a few days time. The event has so far received a lot of praise in the media over the past week or two. MTV has temporarily relaunched one of it's channels as "MTV Pride" in support of the parade. The Mardi-Gra parade was actually televised for the first time in 2015, and I believe there are now plans to cover the event on a annual basis. I definitely won't be going to or watching the event on TV (i'm heterosexual), but i'm supportive of the event nonetheless.

Ultimately, I believe we are heading in the right direction in regards to the acceptance of homosexuality. Of course, it will take years for acceptance to be completely universal among society, but I believe we have progressed in a number of ways over the past five years, especially with the legalisation of same-sex marriage in many countries around the world. Amazingly, same-sex marriage still hasn't been legalised in Australia, however i'm sure that will change in the next few years.

Coming from a heterosexual male who used to be "homophobic", the "2000's anti-gay" mentality was very dangerous for me to carry around, because after going through middle school being peer pressured by the fact that every little thing was considered as "gay", it really caused me to become "homophobic" and be afraid that if I slipped up one tiny bit my so called friends (not) would accuse me of being "gay" when I clearly wasn't and they would spread rumors and not want to be around you. Back in 7th grade some people wrongly accused me of being gay for the dumbest ass reasons you'd ever hear of.

In high school when I was running cross country one day I almost got in big trouble for calling somebody "gay" or a "******", and no I wasn't joking around when I called this person "gay" or "******", I was taking it seriously or angrily like all gay people should be damned for their sins and should be wiped off the face of the earth. Why did I do this, because of carrying that "anti-gay" mentality I got from middle school that all gay people were terrible and bad like an Ebola virus. Over the years I eventually learned why some people grew up and made the decision to become "gay" or "transgender". Some of them may have had major family issues (no offense to anybody on here), or had gotten traumatized as children, although I know not everybody who decided to become gay or transgender had these issues but a lot of them did, and now I take folks who are homosexual a lot more seriously. I don't necessarily agree with their life style completely but that doesn't mean you discriminate against them. You gotta show love to them like any other normal human being.

So... I guess I really was the only person who never experienced homophobia in their life.  :-[

Honestly, as a non-straight  ;D male, I could care less what someone did (unless it's murder), or said, 20 years ago, as long as you don't do/say it again.

So... I guess I really was the only person who never experienced homophobia in their life.  :-[

Well if you're not gay how can you experience homophobia?

Unless you mean you've never been a homophobe? In that case you are certainly not the only one. Many of us weren't homophobes no matter what period of time. The pop culture of the time should not make someone a homophobe, their morals and what kind of person they are is the judge of that. I wasn't mean to gay people either, my brother was though.

Well if you're not gay how can you experience homophobia?

Unless you mean you've never been a homophobe? No, many of us weren't homophobes no matter what period. The pop culture should not make someone a homophobe, their morals and what kind of person they are is the judge of that. I wasn't mean to gay people either, my brother was though.


Oh. So it didn't really matter if I was a heterosexual throughout my life? Wow.

Well if you're not gay how can you experience homophobia?


Because people in school or in the streets would threaten you for doing something they thought was gay and they would force you to keep your distance from gay people as much as possible. Like something would literally happen to you if you touched a gay person, wore a shirt they thought was gay, perform a gay gesture, etc. That's how people got homophobic and started hating on folks who were gay when they didn't really understand their family situation or how the person turned out to be that way.

Because people in school or in the streets would threaten you for doing something they thought was gay and they would force you to keep your distance from gay people as much as possible. Like something would literally happen to you if you touched a gay person, wore a shirt they thought was gay, perform a gay gesture, etc. That's how people got homophobic and started hating on folks who were gay when they didn't really understand their family situation or how the person turned out to be that way.


Whatever they had in Georgia I would not question, because I think it's quite different in New York.  :(

The pop culture of the time should not make someone a homophobe, their morals and what kind of person they are is the judge of that. I wasn't mean to gay people either, my brother was though.


Don't get me wrong, I have never been mean to homosexual people either. I never understood why other kids at my school thought if something was stupid, it should be referred to as being "gay".

Whatever they had in Georgia I would not question, because I think it's quite different in New York.  :(


What was worse for me is that I didn't understand the "gay" term until I entered the gates of hell in 6th grade. Throughout fall 2007 I very quickly learned about the two definitions of "gay", and you had better  :o get those distinct from each other or else.

What was worse for me is that I didn't understand the "gay" term until I entered the gates of hell in 6th grade. Throughout fall 2007 I very quickly learned about the two definitions of "gay", and you had better  :o get those distinct from each other or else.


F*ck man. I don't know what to say. I mean, I did experience watching some mature stuff during the late 2000s, but not enough to give me a realistic experience on what gay people went through back then.

F*ck man. I don't know what to say. I mean, I did experience watching some mature stuff during the late 2000s, but not enough to give me a realistic experience on what gay people went through back then.


It was bad. The thought of two people of the same sex kissing each other and being in a relationship was considered "disgusting" and "unnatural". People genuinely thought that there had to be something wrong with homosexual people, because they would never be in a "normal" relationship.

I'm gonna lock this thread, since my responses are entirely immature from this topic. Especially since I don't want to trigger anybody's memories with homophobic people. It's one of the most embarrassing threads I've ever made, and I don't want anybody to post on it anymore.