Why Is Homophobia a Threat?

The Gender Treachery article by Patrick Hopkins answers the question as to why homophobia is a threat to the idea of masculinity.  There is standard that men and society create for themselves to define their masculinity.  Personhood is a person’s personal identity and how one describes themselves.  Therefore, if there is a threat to manhood, then it is a threat to personhood.  Gender treachery is a new term to me because I did not know there was a term to describe homosexuality or bisexuality in a broader sense.  These types of gender treacheries are considered a threat to some people’s identity.  I do not understand why some men feel threatened by homosexuals because they are still masculine just in their own way.  Homosexuals still have masculine qualities they just define their personhood in a different way.  The term hetero-sexism is new to me because it is such an obvious trait that a person can possess.  Hetero-sexism is characterized as valorizing and privileging heterosexuality, but I believe that people take this term to the extreme.  An extreme form of hetero-sexism is when a person physically or emotionally acts on their idea of hetero-sexism towards a homosexual.  I agree with the statement made by Hopkins when he says that “Homophobia is a product of institutional hetero-sexism and gendered identity.”  Because if our society told us that homosexuality was normal, we would not have worry about the threat that homosexuality perceives.  Instead, we would just understand that homosexuals differ from us just in their sexual preference.