I wonder if people are making some assumptions that are common correlations in our world / experience, but are not 1:1 even here, and wouldn't track / would not be causative in the GO universe.
In our society, the act of making homophobic comments, or antagonizing LGBT people with certain terms and rhetoric, is correlated with homophobic feelings (fear of, disgust towards, or hatred of gay people) and with homophobic beliefs (i.e. "being gay is bad" or "doing 'gay stuff' is wrong").
Homophobic beliefs and feelings, in turn, are correlated with devotion or cultural immersion in a religion / denomination that teaches being gay is a sin.
These correlations are notable, but they aren't even 1:1 in our own world.
Homophobic Actions Without Underlying Homophobic Beliefs
When I was six, I got in an argument with another girl, and I called her a "bad word" I now know is a homophobic slur.
I'd heard the term from an older cousin, who *was* homophobic, and incorrectly guessed the word's meaning based on context clues (incorrectly believing it meant something like "jerk" or "bitch")
So! Since I didn't know the insult was a homophobic slur, does that mean my using it wasn't a homophobic act?
Even though, at age six, I had no real concept of "gay," or really what dating involved among any people, and I felt no negative feeling toward LGBT people I knew (i.e. adult same-gender couples), I still used a homophobic slur.
My action wasn't correlated with any belief; it was wholly ignorant. Yet, it was still homophobic because, regardless of my ignorance of it, that word has a specific meaning. It was spoken in the context of the rest of our culture.
Correlations + Causes of Homophobia
Likewise, homophobic feelings and beliefs often correlate with religious beliefs or religious cultural immersion.
However, religious beliefs are not the strongest factor impacting an individual's degree of homophobia or LGBT-acceptance. A comprehensive analysis determined the strongest factors correlated with homophobia are:
"Authoritarianism," authoritarian attitude and beliefs
"Traditional gender beliefs"
These factors are actually far stronger and have significantly greater impact than membership and regular attendance churches or temples with anti-LGBT theology, degree of religious devotion, or religious cultural immersion (i.e. being raised in a religious environment or culture).
Secular Traditionalist vs. Religious Anti- Authoritarian
The study illustrated the trends by comparing a hypothetical, statistically representative individual who is anti-authoritarian and holds more modern, innovative beliefs about gender, yet is religiously devoted to a non-LGBT affirming faith group, to an atheist individual in a secular culture who holds more authoritarian and traditional gender beliefs:
The anti-authoritarian religious devotee is more likely to:
a). believe that being gay is not a sin, and
b.) support laws and social norms affirming and protecting the rights of gay people to marry, adopt kids, not be subject to discrimination at school or work, and have access to healthcare
This is the case even when these beliefs and actions are directly opposed by their religious denomination + religious community leaders.
In contrast, the authoritarian secular gender traditionalist is more likely to:
a. Believe being gay is morally or ethically wrong
b. Express homophobic beliefs
C. Oppose laws and social norms affirming and protecting gay rights
This is the case even when less authoritarian + traditional secular friends and community leaders try to encourage support.
What Does This Have To Do With Good Omens?
It is both possible and entirely likely that:
1.) Neil Gaiman's statement about the theological position held by God + angels with regard to "being gay" is correct
2. gayziraphale's observation that Uriel antagonized Aziraphale in a homophobic mode is also correct.
There are many possible factors and motives that could cause Uriel to say + do something homophobic without actually believing being gay is a sin, or even understanding human gender.
Human society on Earth is homophobic. Uriel chose to antagonize Aziraphale in a way they knew would be hurtful, without understanding (nor caring about) the context of why it is hurtful to a person like Aziraphale on Earth
Angels in the Good Omens universe are highly authoritarian, at least in their social structure. Despite not holding "traditional gender beliefs" (or any gender beliefs), the high correlation between authoritarianism and homophobia on irl Earth is mirrored in GO heaven.
Authoritarians want to enforce order, and much of the mannerisms, beliefs, aesthetics and actions coded as "being gay" is seen as disorderly.
Queer identities and queer culture are widely anti-authoritarian, and may even be inherently so. This makes LGBT rights a bright target for authoritarian regimes here on Earth. Even without a theological underpinning, the anti-authoritarian aspects of queerness would likely set queer angels in opposition to angelic authorities by default.
(source 4 [ shows how being connected to a broader queer community correlates with queer individuals holding more anti-authoritarian beliefs and political alignments])
The fact that Uriel (like seemingly all Good Omens angels) is genderqueer by our contemporary, human standards, doesn't significantly impact their treatment of Aziraphale.
They do not feel a kinship or likeness with Aziraphale because, unlike Aziraphale, Uriel faces no oppression from angelic authorities. In fact, Uriel is an authority, and to the extent that they have friends or a community (do they?), that community is made up of other high-ranking angels.
Disconnected from queer friendship + community, Uriel is more likely hold queerphobic beliefs, despite seeming queer to us. They are more likely to take queerphobic actions because "queer" is not part of their sense of self in the way "angelic authority" is.
This is true here in irl Earth as well, where queer individuals disconnected from queer communities and friendships are more likely to be recruited by the alt-right (source)
I Wish Demonstrating Being Gay Is Not a Sin, Per God, Were Enough to Stop Homophobia - In Good Omens + In Real Life
It is very hard to rebuke or prevent homophobia. It is hard to protect ourselves and the people we love. It's hard to reshape society into a more accepting space.
I had a bigger point when I started writing this. But going over it all, I just feel very tired. It's overwhelming. I don't know what to do about it.
I don't think extending a long argument between two writers, whose points are not even contradictory, is helping.
I don't actually know what does help 😕
