Also I’d argue that none of this really matters because language doesn’t follow an absolute set of rules. Language is how people use it. If people start using a word to mean so thing it take son that meaning, it doesn’t matter if the word makes sense in relation to other words.
A word for something isn’t a 100% accurate description of that thing and it never has been. It doesn’t matter that a peanut isn’t technically a nut, we call it a peanut. Everyone understands that it’s a peanut. If you walk up to someone on the street and say “do you know where I can buy some peanuts” they will understand what you are saying with no problems at all.
We spend way too much time arguing over the “right” and “wrong” uses of words. There is no such thing really. Words don’t determine their own meaning, people determine that meaning, and if enough people can regocnize a words meaning immediately when they hear it then it is a word with a valid definition. It doesn’t matter if the word is contradictory to the way other similar words work, because language isn’t defined like that.
Ironically this whole stupid “homophobic peoe aren’t scared of gay people” actually proves that the person making that claim does acknoedge that the word homophobia is linguistically valid, because they are acknowledging that it’s understood definition differs from what you would expect if you strictly read the word literally