"What to make of the girl who wears basketball shorts and baggy T's and enjoys shooting baskets with the boys; the black kid who hangs out with a white punk rock crowd; the artsy boy who "glams it up" at school in high heels and jewelry?
His skin, his smile, his heart . . . it's the same as anyone else," Shakina pointed out. "It's blue eye shadow, that's all it is. What about that is so threatening?"

As someone who felt they were made to "fit in" with the rest of societies "ideas" of how one is supposed to feel, I can totally relate to this article. I've asked myself so many times why there is so much hostility towards differences and I can never come up with a good answer. So growing up, I tried to fit in outwardly while secretly living quite a different lifestyle. The ironic part is that I found some of the most homophobic people to actually harbor gay tendencies themselves.

outstanding clip and message! so glad you posted this debs!

The ironic part is that I found some of the most homophobic people to actually harbor gay tendencies themselves.

Fear, which is not as ironic as one would think. You see they are afraid of that which is different. It makes them question the status quo, more importantly it leads to the kind of self-reflection and introspective that kids, especially males, are taught not to engage in. That and they are continually bombarded by messages of hate from parents, siblings, and churches.

There is no deeper loathing than self-loathing.

"It is hard to let old beliefs go. They are familiar. We are comfortable with them and have spent years building systems and developing habits that depend on them. Like a man who has worn eyeglasses so long that he forgets he has them on, we forget that the world looks to us the way it does because we have become used to seeing it that way through a particular set of lenses. Today, however, we need new lenses. And we need to throw the old ones away."
-Kenichi Ohmae

Ratilfar said it in such a way that I agree with.

Fear.

Anger ALWAYS masks fear. Fear is the 1st emotion. Anger is the egos cover up of it. So...anger toward differences. It's an unevolved spirits way of handling what threatens them.