"You abhor Pedophiles, you make a moral judgment. I abhor Homophiles, so, what's your problem?"
Take the langage back every chance you can.
You are absolutely right about taking the language back. I would suggest that the professor is correct in everyting except his employing the monstrous term " homophobe".
Those who believe that homosexuality is abnormal and sinful behaviour are not suffering from a psychatric disorder. Simply put , I am opposed to promoting sin be it theft, adultery or any of a multitude of others considerred for thousands of years to be wrong by virtually every civilization, but most importantly by those based on the Biblical understanding of morality