Why is the Bible always the scapegoat when it comes to homophobia in religion? Because I've read the Quran and let me tell you it's a whole lot worse than the Bible when it comes to homophobia. At least Christians can pick and choose parts of the Bible that they believe in, but Muslims consider the Quran to be the absolute word of God (Allah), so they're more likely to be influenced by the homophobia that's in their holy book without questioning if it's right or wrong...
Technically yes? By definition I would say that anyone who has a problem with homosexuality is by default homophobic. But I will say that people who just think that homosexuality is unnatural are different from people who actively want to harm those who are homosexual.
I often see a lot of hate towards Christians because they don't agree with gay marriage and gay adoption, but I don't think they're as bad as certain other people who would actually be okay with the idea of killing homosexuals based on their 'sin'.
I wouldn't just write off the entirety of Islam as being fundamentalist. Also, its always a bad sign when someone uses the excuse that someone else is vaguely behaving worse to excuse any person or group's behaviour.
The fact that homosexuality is a crime punishable by death in Qatar for example does not make it any better than LBGT teenagers in the USA can be at least as four times as likely to make a serious attempt at suicide (Page 121 below).
http://afsp.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/full-report.pdf
You'll always fall short if you only aim to be better than someone else. Civil rights come from the ambition to be better that you are right now.
Believing that homosexuality is a sin isn't hateful by itself. A sin isn't necessarily a bad thing. Mixing fabrics, tattoos, adult solo fun time, jewellery, divorce and bacon are all great but they are sinful.
This.
It is true that Abrahamic Religions have explicit homophobia. But I don't think its possible for anyone to completely follow their holy texts' literal interpretation. Every religious person has their own unique version of God(s).
If a person ignores any of the banlist in Leviticus, but chooses to believe that God wants them to ostracise or even kill gay people, it is because they have chosen to interpret the parts of their religion that give them permission for homophobia.
People choose to put their time into protesting LBGT+ equality, or running pray-away-the-gay camps that basically torture people into repressing their natural sexuality. When they could be spending that time and effort helping rehabilitate real criminals or helping the sick and homeless. That's homophobia.
And even if people don't consider themselves actively homophobic. If people will treat homophobia as a sin, it will inevitably cause real effects. Whether its turning gay people from job interviews, to electing politicians who will suppress gay rights.
Of course I wouldn't say that all religious communities are homohobic, or that all homophobes are motivated by religion. Plenty of religious people aren't remotely homophobic. while it is a common cause, there's also the perceived threat of homosexuality to the traditional patriarchal family structure. The sterotype of gay people as pedophiles. Discrimination against homosexuality in fiction etc.