partners: copartes

partners: copartes

In a social justice context socios does not work, since it implies business associate, not social change organization we work together with. I've noticed lately that several groups, like Diakonia and Oxfam, use copartes.

Homophobia and islamophobia are not actually phobias: alternative terms

Homophobia and islamophobia are not actually phobias. I do not believe that they are mental health conditions (like agoraphobia or claustrophobia) and it is wrong to put them in that category when they appear to be based on hate, not fear. As such, I avoid both terms and prefer instead the terms anti-gay (or anti-LGBTI) prejudice and anti-muslim prejudice. Of course if the term homophobia is said in English I will render it as homofobia in Spanish - but if it is in a social movement context where I can say an aside to the speaker afterwards, I will make this argument to them.

It is strange that the words for different sorts of prejudice and hate can sound so different. Racism, sexism, agism, ablism sound similar, but is there a similar -ism version for the two terms in question here? Sherman argues for the term gaycism, but it seems unlikely to catch on. It could be useful for alliance building if all were said using a standard construction that we could put side by side, and I propose here we simply use anti-black, anti-woman, anti-gender queer, anti-Muslim, etc. Whether you then add on the word prejudice, bias, hate, or bigotry could vary.