I'm just going to lay this out nice and simple: homophobia is downright repugnant to my sensibilities. I don't find it attractive, I don't find it justified, and I certainly don't think it's acceptable. And yes, it is a deal breaker for me. I'm still with The Boyfriend 6 years later because, after one of his oldest friends came out to him, he had to analyze his beliefs and he found that he didn't actually believe them anymore so he changed his behavior. I find that commendable and I wish more people would take the time to do as much. Now, time for the rant. My sister's boyfriend, I've noticed, is homophobic. Alot more homophobic than I originally had guessed, just based on our conversations, but I let it slide because he's not my boyfriend and my sister can make her own life choices. The other day, however, The Rocky Horror Picture Show was on television and I was like "Hey, I haven't seen this in a while...." and nothing else was on TV so I was like what the hell. My sister and her boyfriend were schmoozing on the couch -- which annoys me but my sister refuses to heed my requests to be more discrete so what can I do? -- so I figured they wouldn't care what I watched. I changed the channel and, since it had already started, the movie was at Tim Curry's entrance as Frankenfurter. An awesome musical number, by the way, and one of my favorite parts. But, the minute he noticed what was on the screen, my sister's boyfriend was wailing "What is this? Why are we watching this?" -- clearly, he was upset by the crossdressing Tim Curry, despite his dead sexy crooning about Transexual Transylvania. I'll be honest -- I wanted to slap him but instead, I obliged him and changed the channel because I was brought up in what can ostensibly be considered The South and you have to keep your guests comfortable -- even if the "guests" are practically living at your house and aren't very courteous.
