My brush with homophobia, should I have said something?

When faced with homophobia, how should one react? Is it okay to not say anything or should you fight for what you might believe in?

“ I rather my children watch what I watched because it's everywhere now.” Those were the first words I heard when I intruded on my best friend’s conversation with a pair of strangers. It took me a while to understand that instead of talking about the quality of TV shows on the air, the strangers was referring to the new rise of homosexual couples in media. As a queer person, I actively look for movies and books like these and am excited for any new same-sex or queer representation that may come out in the future but I forget that there are opposing views. I stood there listening, almost in awe that my best friend stood there and joined the conversation and even worst that it would be my faith later on. What was I to do and should I have gone about it differently? I didn’t state that I was against queer representation in media, although I highlighted my knowledge of who was a non-binary person and some controversies of the MAP (Minor Attracted Person) community and the queer community. There wasn’t any hateful speech or slurs being used but a part of me felt like I should not be having this conversation or even contributing. The more I thought about it the more I wondered if I should have said something or even defended my community more.

In my country, homophobia, transphobia or any prejudice towards the LGBTQIA+ community is normal and I have learnt in the past to not say anything and just blend into the background even though I do not share the same views of these people. I believe that queer individuals should be able to love and live without feeling as if their love is a sin or a crime. I believe that media should represent life and the truth is queer people aren’t some myth we created, they are real and they always were. At what point does one stop blending into the background? Do the circumstances define how one goes about dealing with homophobia and when is the right time to defend or blend in?