Neil has an entry up about how gays are "heterophobic".

I don't know...a phobia is an irrational fear of something. 

At first I thought.  Huh, even though I'm hetero, is it possible I'm heterophobic?  After all, I'm afraid of what people can do if they think you're gay.

For instance, there were a couple of girls in our Highschool that believed I was a lesbian.  This idea caught on with their little group, and they made my life a living HELL.  The harrassment included things that you would consider sexual assault if they happened in a workplace or on the street instead of in a highschool, where people dismiss it as simple "teasing".

So...I don't think it is possible for a gay person to be heterophobic.  Because if you are openly gay, you have to face the probablility that, at any time, your life and well-being could be in danger from a straight person who comes after you only because you are gay, and feels like they are justified in attacking you, or even morally obligated to kill you for no other reason than that.

I wouldn't call fear of that "irrational", would you?

Neil might point out, and rightly so, that HE PERSONALLY would never harm someone for being gay, and I absolutely believe him.

However, he gives money to places like the IRD, an organization with heavy ties to Christian Reconstructionism (Howard Ahmanson is one of a handful of major contributers, and his wife serves on the board), Christian Reconstructionism teaches that Homosexuals should be stoned to death.  Ahmanson has since tried to distance himself from this message without lying; saying that he no longer believes the stoning to death of homosexuals (and other harsh Biblical punishments) is "necessary", but that if one came across a country where such things were done, one could not say they were wrong.

So, while it might be irrational to be afraid to be alone in a room with Neil (probably the most aggressive thing he'd do is serve you milk and cookies, and perfrom a lovely devotional to help save your soul), I don't think it is any stretch to be afraid to live in the country with his politics and form of activism, and the groups he supports.