Who Does The Queer Agenda Represent?: A Mini-Rant
As regulars on this blog might know, I often point out that feminism’s lack of inclusivity and its historical apathy toward marginalized women has hurt the movement and is something that this generation needs to actively work against. Over the past year, I began to feel the same way toward the Queer Establishment, whose emphasis on obtaining marriage equality and repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell seems really misplaced, since there are far more pressing issues that affect the queer community but which do not command the same lobbying or funding power.
On one hand, it’s great that the Affluent Coast-Dwelling Gay Man is today the loud and proud cultural trope with which mainstream America is familiar — way more positive a stereotype than the historical portrayal of queer people as sexual deviants and perverts. But on the other hand, there are countless others who do not pick out wardrobes for straight dudes for a living, who cannot safely come out in their community, and who struggle alone with internalized homophobia and its consequences (depression, substance abuse, etc.) Those are the people whose interests are not represented when the educated, upper-middle class, white, male-identified leaders of the queer movement fight for things like the right to ship queer people abroad to kill and die alongside their straight comrades. Queer people who are trans, immigrants, poor, etc. are drowned out by the Wills, Stanfords, and Carsons. While I do appreciate the significance of symbolic victories and visibility, those in the frontlines in the fight for equality clearly prioritize certain interests over others and often form these interests from a position of relative privilege.
And yeah, I still think it’s ridiculous that sickening amounts of money are being poured into the marriage lobby. Honestly, what are y’all fighting for here? If I were queer (hell, I’m not queer and I still feel this way), I would rather be “separate but equal” rather than align myself with a failed institution whose primary historical purpose has been to police wombs and trade women like cattle.
More thoughts on this later.
