Homer: There's only two kds of guys who wear Hawaiian shirts: gay guys and big fat party animals. And Bart don't look like a big fat party animal to me!

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The SimpsonsCast & crewUser reviewsTriviaEpiso aired Feb 16, 1997TV-1423mAfter Marge beiends John, a gay store owner, Homer worri that his prence will have a negative effect on Bart's Marge beiends John, a gay store owner, Homer worri that his prence will have a negative effect on Bart's Marge beiends John, a gay store owner, Homer worri that his prence will have a negative effect on Bart's productn, box office & pany PhotosReview Homer's PhobiaThis is probably one of the bt episos the Simpsons have produced. He may have been stereotypilly mpy but he never eaked out, beme ant or rentful over Homer's reactn to fdg out he was gay.

I know 's the Simpsons, but would have been easy for to bee some sort of gays vs. I danced wh a gay!

However, when Marge tells Homer that John is a homosexual, Homer eaks out and, fearg that his son will emulate John, tak Bart on a misguid journey to make his son heterosexual. When Marge rms Homer that John don't have a wife and is a homosexual, he is horrified.

Bart starts wearg Hawaiian shirts, dancg women's wigs and eatg cupk wh strawberry icg stead of cholate icg; which mak Homer worry that Bart might be gay.

Homer tak Bart to a steel l to revel a manly environment; however, the entire workforce is gay, which Homer learns when the steel l turns to a gay dis durg breaks. Bart is nfed until Lisa explas Homer thks that Bart is gay. "Homer's Phobia" was the show's first episo to revolve entirely around gay them and received a posive cril rponse both for s humor and anti-homophobia msage.

The seri ma several referenc to homosexualy before the episo aired. However, "Homer's Phobia" was the first episo to revolve entirely around homosexual them. Two later episos that explored LGBT issu were "Three Gays of the Condo" and "There's Somethg About Marryg".

" In the book Leavg Sprgfield, Matthew Henry praised the episo's criqug of "the most mon misnceptn about homosexualy: namely that gayns is somehow ntag", as well as s other them.

Cathare Lumby of the Universy of Sydney ced the episo as an example of good satire as "managed to explore a lot of [homosexual] issu que a ep way [... ] whout beg overtly polil", which she claimed, along wh the episo's humor, ma s anti-homophobia msage more succsful than that of other gay-themed shows like Queer as Folk.

" There are also viewers today who, while appldg the show for s posive msag about homosexualy and acceptance (as well as lampoong toxic masculy), still hate the episo for g male homosexual stereotyp jt to prove their pot. In June 2003, Igor Smykov sued the Rsian televisn channel REN TV on claims that The Simpsons, along wh Fay Guy, were "morally generate and promoted dgs, vlence and homosexualy". As evince, "Homer's Phobia" was shown to the judge to prove that The Simpsons promoted homosexualy and should not be aired aga on the channel.

In July 2021, Cathal Gunng of Screen Rant argued that the episo ma a huge ntributn to "normalizg LGBTQ+ characters, " notg that they were a rary at the time the episo aired, and didn't "treat s first openly gay character as a walkg joke. " Gunng also argued that the episo was "groundbreakg" bee Homer's fear of a gay man, voiced by John Waters, was mocked, rather than Waters' character, and herald the episo for beg "one of the first attempts to break down the visible barrier faced by gay characters" while notg lampooned the hypermasculy of Homer's iends. Homer: There's only two kds of guys who wear Hawaiian shirts: gay guys and big fat party animals.

[Homer is worried that Bart will turns out gay]Moe: Come on, don't take this so hard, Homer. Seems kda gay.