"No Homo"???

"Happy birthday man, you're the best friend I've ever had, I love you. No homo"

I saw this tweet earlier today and it made me think. Why do high school and middle school boys
(and some girls) feel the need to add "no homo" to the end of their sentence if they're telling someone they love them?

I'll admit, I said it in middle school. It was more of a peer influence than anything else. I didn't know what I was saying or even what it meant. I didn't know the context of the phrase and didn't realize it was unnecessary to add to my sentence. It's crazy how often we say stuff that we don't even know. We repeat what we hear because it makes people laugh or it's the cultural norm, that's how influential we are.

Being gay is being more socially acceptable but there are still definitely homophobic individuals everywhere you go. You may not be homophobic, but by using the phrase, "no homo" or "that's so gay" can be very offensive to many people in the gay community.

By saying, "no homo", the individuals is repeatedly reassuring his audience of his heterosexuality. They're so scared of having emotions that they have to constantly remind us that they're heterosexual, and not gay. But why is being gay so scary?

I don't speak from experience, but people are people. They just love someone different than you, and that's okay. It doesn't affect you. Be you, and they'll be them.

What I wanted to get across here is that we need to watch our words. They can hurt, even if it was meant as a joke or a last minute statement. Don't say a phrase or a word if you don't know what it means, you'll eventually just look dumb.

Stay peaceful (and watch your words)!!