Likely if you are reading this you’ve
seen my tweet regarding people’s ire for tumblr and hatred for queer, LGBT, or
whatever your label of choice, people are so closely linked they might as well
be one in the same. Personally I’m about sick of the discussion so I’m not
interested in discussing it further here. Instead I want to chronicle some of
my thoughts on an interesting response of the topic that has got me thinking.
Now, the response shall remain totally anonymous as I don’t want anyone to be
upset at this individual. I don’t even know them. I will likely never hear from
them again. Though I do applaud them as they got me to think a lot about what I’ve
said, even if I respectfully disagree.
What world do I live in? I’ve been
thinking a lot about that. I’ve been thinking a lot about this world I live in
and how people like me are perceived and treated. Women are murdered and raped
everyday just for being women. Lesbians, bisexuals, pansexuals, and the like
get beaten and cast out of families everyday even after they’ve “won”. Though
it is the treatment of trans people that weighs heavy on my mind tonight, and
every night.
“Queer People” I called them in my
tweet. Queer people I find solidarity, though that choice of terminology was an
issue. I understand the problematic history of the word “queer”. I understand
to some it’s not a proud term. Though sadly to me, it’s probably the big catch-all
term I find the most solidarity in.
“LGBT” apparently the correct terminology
I should have used. LGBT are the initials for the Lesbian Gay Bisexual
Transgender community. LGBT is a banner that instills a lot of pride for the downtrodden
people of sexuality. They are a group that fights for equality against a
grossly conservative, heteronormative world, the world that I live in.
Sadly, in the world that I live in I
cannot blindly take pride in the banner. I cannot march under the Rainbow Flag
and act as if everything is okay. I cannot just act as if this LGBT community
has my people under the T in their priorities. In LGBT, not all the letters are
created equal. I take little pride or solidarity in the initials LGBT. Even as
someone who falls under half of initials I cannot help but feel hopelessly
alienated.
Honestly, I strongly disagree with
the idea that you can just initialize all the “important” identities into a
neat little row. LGBT is quite a few identities too short. There are the
extended versions like LGBTQ for people who identify under the problematic “queer”
label or could be interpreted to include those “questioning”. LGBTQI is there
for inclusivity of Intersex people. LGBTQIA is an extension to include asexual
people. The list goes on, but I can’t help but feel for my friends and loved
ones who get treated as “extensions” to the contemporary LGBT banner. The
community just shrugs its shoulders and suggests if you were part of the “important”
identities you would’ve made the initial cut. It all gets worse once you get to
some downright insulting modifications to the banner like B for Bronies or A
for Allies. Depressingly some people would accept those identities in before
ones that my loved ones lay.
Though even with just the
contemporary four, LGBT, not all is fair. Trans people end up needing to fight
to get any pull in LGBT spaces. Instead the T gets misgendered and abused. The
T gets told that the cis people of the movement or even cis allies are more
important. The T gets booed out of LGBT Pride Events for speaking their voice.
The T is not equal, and I find it hard to find solidarity in that.
The larger LGBT community is
terribly transphobic too. It’s terrifying how many TERFs (Trans Exclusionary
Radical Feminists) get accepted in the LGBT community. Cis members of the LGBT
community have no idea of the struggles of the trans people they are supposed
to be fighting for, and quite frankly many of them do not care. Yet whenever
trans people gain any ground these same people get to pat themselves and their
Rainbow Flag on a good job for our hard work trying to survive. To tell you the
truth, the larger LGBT Pride community scares me.
Now do not get me wrong here. I am
not asking for trans people or their cis allies to boycott the LGBT banner. I
understand as much as any other trans person that our options for pride and
inclusivity can be depressingly low. If you can take pride in the LGBT banner
and that works for you more than other labels like “Queer” then go right ahead.
I personally just cannot find any solidarity in the banner. I do not wish it
harm, on the contrary I wish for a day that LGBT spaces are safe and inclusive
enough for trans people like me to take pride in the banner. Until then I guess
I have to look for alternatives that work for me, alternatives that work in the
world I live in.
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