Homophobia is beneficial to many heterosexuals

This is a very interesting topic. If my opponent's user name hold any truth, he likely believes in the premise. As a homosexual myself, I thoroughly disagree, for a variety of personal reasons, which I will outline here, as well as giving them more general context. If it is agreeable to my opponent, we'll start by saying that "many" will mean "a significant amount", as opposed to something like '100', or some similar arbitrary number. I'll jump right into my arguments. 1. Only beneficial if it is beneficial on weight, all things considered. My opponent has listed a few reasons as to why he feels homophobia benefits heterosexuals. I will now present reasons as to why it is not beneficial, then weigh all of the advantages and disadvantage. Negative Social Stigma: In today's world, epecially in many first world countries, 'homophobia' is quickly becoming synonymous with 'bigotted', as far as public perception is concerned. Part of being successful and respected is being a person worthy of respect, in the public's eyes. Many people in this world refuse to respect people they classify as biggots and actively seek to "knock the bigot down a few ranks". By practicing homophobia, one has the disadvantage of signficant credibility and face loss. Is in many cases against the law: Many companies have included "sexual-orientation" under their non-discrimination clauses. In fact, it is very difficult to find a large US company these days that does not include "sexual orientation" as a protected class. Additionally, great movements are taking place to change this protection at the federal level. By practicing homophobia, you are discriminating against gays in some fashion, which can be against the law. The disadvantage here: Reduces employment opportunities in most every field. Can damage friendships with other non-homophobic people: By stating that you would avoid 'unwanted friendship issues', but you failed to consider that a homophobic attitude can directly cause friendship issues with straight friends who do not support that ideology. It's worth mentioning that gay-sympathizing straights outweigh homosexuals themselves, meaning you're actually more likely to experience friendship issues should you practice homophobia.It's also necessary to make a point here about my opponent's other two reasons for homophobia, regarding unwanted sexual advances/crushes. Crushes and sexual advances are often independent of whether friendships have formed or not. Consider, for example, the number of unique situations in which a stranger sexually approached you, as compared to one of your friends approaching you. You will likely find that you have more to fear from strangers (sexually) than from friends. This is simply due to the fact that the number of strangers in your life far outnumber your friends.There is also a considerable stigma against gay men approaching straight friends, sexually. While it still happens, this stigma makes it so straights are much more likely to be approached by woman friends than gay friends. This is due to the fact that gays, while interested in men, also understand the concept of "heterosexuality" and will often respect it. To say otherwise is to paint gay men as a people that first and foremost care about sex, with friendships secondary. I can say from personal experience and from just speaking logically, that most people, including gays, do not approach life this way. 2. Being homophobic toward gays vs avoiding gays. Next, it's important to note that there is a difference between being homophobic and avoiding gays. Homophobia is a strong dislike of homosexuals, for any number of reasons, often accompanied by intollerance and hatefullness. The opponent attempts to list some advantages to being homophobic, implying that homophobia is the only way to accomplish those goals. However, one can simply avoid homosexuals, without bearing and hate or intollerance toward them. ConclusionI didn't speak much on this issue yet, since there hasn't been much to respond to. What I have shown is that there are many disadvantages to being homophobic and that the advantages my opponent submitted arent nearly as advantageous as he believes. It is clear that it is not benefecial for heterosexuals to be homophobic, as the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. I look forward to my opponent's response.