Great piece. As an LGBTQ activist, though, let me present you with the flip side. Yes, "homophobia" worked out pretty well as messaging, but the word itself probably wasn't all that big a deal in terms of changing hearts and minds. Entire books have been written about the thawing of anti-gay sentiment that started in the late 20th century, and most of them don't agree with each other in terms of cause. LOL

Here's that flip side: LGBTQ people are perfectly aware that "homophobia" does not mean mental disorder. Our staunchest allies are aware of that too. We use the word to talk about bigotry not pathology.

Conservative thought leaders and politicians who oppose equality, however, often use the difference in meaning to distract or deflect criticism.

"How could I possibly be homophobic? I don't have any sort of irrational fear. I'm just proposing sensible policy my constituents are behind."

That sort of thing.

Often in cases like that, the conversation then deteriorates into an argument about phobia definitions rather than policy. (No matter how many times we say we don't mean what they say we mean when we say homophobia.)

I think many of us today wish we had a different word for anti-gay bigotry.

Though, it's not that big a deal one way or the other.