Stop bombarding us with messages of hope through marriage equality and equal opportunity to participate in state terrorism in the middle east. All the benefits of marriage should be accessible to everyone and not just monogamous gay couples. By shifting the privileged nature of marriage to same sex couples, we are not actually accomplishing any true form of liberation but only participating in the marginal practices of these institutions. The very same practices that have kept us from receiving benefits that heterosexual couples receive through a marriage legal bind.
This is a reminder that the “Gay movement” is a movement for white upper class/middle class gay white men. I do believe in marriage equality but choose not to give my focus and energy to a movement that is oblivious to the actual needs of people in the LGBTQ community such as housing, legal rights for trans* folks, non-discrimination occupation laws, dismantling the prison-industrial complex and such. Basically, this movement is not for me, is not facilitated by me or people who look like me, and it is constructed to fit the needs of those who want to reform the system, not dismantle it. It is a movement that has been monopolized by those who had access to movement directly and were in a socioeconomic position to facilitate the movement.
Who’s movement is this? Why aren’t we talking about the queer men/womyn and trans* folks being incarcerated for using drugs, “illegal” sex work and crimanlized just for being homeless? Why are we not focused on creating better resources for queer men who are HIV positive and struggling with drug use? Why are we so focused on a gay marriage?
When i see gay marriage ads, why do I only see white upper middle class men who are trying to get married? Why has the image of queerness become so assimilated to nationalism, consumerism and gender/heteronormativity? My response to this movement is a resistance to this new form of Nationalism that is spread around the LGBT movement like a disease.
We don’t need to be fighting for a spot in the Neoliberal capitalist hierarchy just to feel safe from institutional heterosexism. It is the very way that the gay movement has mobilized itself to beg for inclusion in state terrorism, neoliberal economy structures, and wanting to be a part of the fucked up system that exploits people of color and poor people that makes me want to say, “fuck you HRC”! I ask again, who’s movement is this?
The Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was not something to cheer about. I am really torn that people I am friends with were happy about the repeal. That this is what success in the gay community looks like? Our goals is to be a part of the consumer hierarchical social structure that has exploited us for so long? Ask yourself, how does that even make sense?
How is being able to be openly gay in order to bomb other countries for oil part of the “Human Rights Campaign” agenda? Why aren’t we trying to stop this war instead? Its draining the economy in ways we could use to fund education, or get this economy back into game, and actually provide financial assistance to those who are stuck at the bottom of the economic hierarchy?
Why aren’t we worried about single moms of color who are being disenfranchised by our economy and stuck in positions without any class mobility? Why do gay white men use rhetoric that discredits the financial struggles of undocumented mexican womyn? Those who are struggling to feed their kids through house cleaning jobs and hard labor positions?
If you aren’t asking these questions, how can you say your for equality? Are you that selfish and that privileged that you can’t look beyond the context of your socioeconomic environments?
Well, I have something to say about this. Shut up and listen. Stop trivializing our and silencing our experiences as queer people of color. Stop and listen to our concerns and needs. Check and understand your privilege. Your cis-gendered privilege, your white privilege, your socioeconomic privilege, your academic privilege, your able bodied privilege, your learning abled privilege, and stop ignoring our disadvantaged standpoints!
If you continue to ignore these concerns and needs of poor people of color, queer people of color, trans* people, etc. we will be forced to create our own movements. How can we organize with you if you won’t fullfill our needs besides yours? How can we cope emotionally, be in the same space as you when you won’t even listen to us? How can we learn to love ourselves and heal from racism, cissexism, etc. if you have to trivialize our emotions through silencing them?
I am sick of trying to work with you when you can’t be humble enough to check your privilege. You should try to understand it on your own time, instead of expecting me to teach you about your privilege. That is not my job and certainly does not allow for me to heal when I have to check other people’s privileges and am expected as “minority” to educate others about my identity.
So if you truly care about creating a political movement for equality, then you need to start by stepping back, and allowing for us to organize. You have to learn to let go some of the power you have. You have to allow for us to create political demands that will benefit poor/working class people, especially those of color.
Do not go around claiming that you are for equality when you only contradicting yourself. If you are going to continue with your same political and organizing strategies, then at least be honest and say, “we are fighting for our piece of nationalism and imperialism”. You owe it to yourself to be honest to you and me.
