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I have watched as a people and as a country and a culture over the course of my teenage-into-adulthood life, and I do still think there is a tremendous amount of homophobia that exists.

I'm not homophobic.

I'm a Southern girl. I like when they open the door and pull out a chair. I'm really into a man's man.

I've never gone around bashing homosexuals, and I am not homophobic.

Homophobia is manufactured in high schools, so it's probably useful to keep in mind that it really does bother people.

I used to be homophobic, but as I got older, I realized that wasn't the way to do things. I don't discriminate against anybody for their sexual preference, for their skin color... that's immature.

Of course, the majority of us would speak up in the face of outrageous bigotry, but do we speak up in a social situation when someone casually refers to something as 'gay'? If we don't, we are standing with the homophobes whom we are quietly fighting.

My thing is, I don't get in nobody's business or nothing like that or try to bash anybody for what they do. I've got cousins who are gay. To me, there's just no difference. We always chill and have family functions the way we always have. It's not a problem.

Homophobia is just that: a phobia.

Am I a homophobe? Look, I work in show business. I am awash in gay people, as colleagues and as friends.