guest post: the overlap in the gay rights and feminist movement
David on May 26th 2007
Earlier in the Month, we posted a controversial guest blog by Mike McFall about the importance of staying on message in the LGBTQ equality movement. Today, we bring you a response by Cara, a 22 year old liberal feminist with a BA in English, Text and Writing. She currently works as a cashier and volunteers with Planned Parenthood of the Rochester/Syracuse Region. She blogs daily at The Curvature, where she writes about politics and culture from a feminist perspective.
GLBTQ activists have a lot on their plate. From marriage, adoption and parenting rights, to unraveling cultural gender norms and fighting back stereotypical or bigoted images in the media, there’s no shortage of battles to be waged.
I understand, because as a feminist blogger, I have a full plate of my own. In the U.S. alone, the government is attacking women’s reproductive freedom, rape and domestic violence rates are still alarmingly high, women are paid on 77 cents for each dollar men make, and we have our own stereotypical and prejudiced media portrayals to counter.
These are only a small fraction of the issues that our movements are facing. It would be easy, even understandable, for us to keep going our separate ways. But to do so would be a disservice to both of us. Though our specific concerns sometimes vary, we are a part of the very same movement: that of human rights.
All of us are fighting for both the right to have and not have children. While the GLBTQ movement is fighting for the right to live without fear of being attacked due to sexual orientation or gender identity, feminists are fighting for the right of women to stop living in fear of rape and domestic abuse. And most obviously, both of our movements want to loosen the hold that traditional understandings of gender have on our society. Through devaluing women and femininity, our culture has found a way to also devalue the gay and transgender community. By using stereotypes that gay males are more “feminine” than straight males, homosexuals are unjustly classified as “not real men”– or, women. And our masculinity-dominated society sees little worse than being female. Lesbians also fight gender-discrimination, since they are (frequently incorrectly) assumed to be “masculine,” and therefore not living up to the constraining cultural ideals of womanhood. Trangender individuals, of course, face the strongest gender discrimination of all. Each of us– straight women, gay males, lesbians, bisexuals, transmen and transwomen–are all fighting the patriarchy. How are we not the same movement?
Both the gay rights and feminist movements have wrongly set their focuses too narrowly in the past. Feminism has historically been a middle-class white women’s movement, and previously ignored the needs and experiences of women of color, women with low-incomes, lesbians and transwomen. The early gay rights movement focused predominantly on middle-class white males, and is similarly expanding its mainstream focus to persons of color, lesbians, transgender individuals and those in the working class. Both of our movements are trying to increase their scopes and gain trust in marginalized communities. If we embark on these missions separately, I believe that we will be repeating the same mistakes. As an increasing number of activists are learning, it’s crucial for us to work together.
Allies are important. Men are important to the feminist movement because they show that it is in fact a battle for human rights, and that women’s issues affect all of us. The involvement of heterosexual allies is equally important to the GLBTQ movement. If we want to fight for human rights, we need to fight for all human rights equally, and I believe that we need to fight together.
Filed in general |
I’m very pleased with the post you’ve written. The way you break down the common needs and struggles of the gay and feminist causes. My favorite juxtaposition, one that is worth keeping in front of our heads, was the comparison of how both women and LGBT people are fighting to be free from violence, with domestic violence and rape being women’s worst enemy and homophobic and transphobic hate violence being the LGBT people’s worst enemy.
I recently watched Joe Solmenese on Tucker Carlson talking about the hate crimes bill we’re trying to pass. Tucker went on that classic conservative opposition, “why are we protecting some people more than others?” First I feel that’s an false point. Second, there is a good answer to Tucker’s more reasonable (but unstated) question? “Why do we need this law when we already have anti-violence laws?”
Here is the answer: Because violence attacks different communities in different ways, and anti-violence law should be made to adapt to these different attacks. You don’t fight an elephant with an anti-tiger gun and you don’t fight a tiger with a gun meant to kill rhinos. You can’t use the same technique to fight different attacks. Karate has different defenses for different attacks. So does our beloved military, as our pro-war leaders love to remind us.
So lets adjust to the reality that police officers can get lazy when investigating the rape of a woman who was “dressing like she wanted it” or the beating of a transgender person who was “being deceptive”. We need to make sure local authorities do their job in terms of investigation and prosecution. The victim’s identitity shouldn’t matter. Coppers, you better do your job. We’ll be watching.
At least if this damn bill passes. And I bet VAWA could use a boost too, yes?
I absolutely agree that we all need to fight together for all human rights.
We need male feminists and we need straight gay rights advocates. We need all people who believe in equality in all its forms working for it. For everyone.
As a female feminist, if I were to abandon what strides I take to promote GLBTQ rights, then I would be abandoning a lot of women. I can’t separate those two things.
Nor can I separate one underdog from another. As a member of a couple marginalized groups, I’m going to be looking out for all marginalized people.
I must confess I didn’t realize what I wrote was so troublesome. I hear the same opinion being expressed by many in the LGBTQ community. And, I don’t think it’s controversial to question our leadership when we feel it is going astray.
“If we want to fight for human rights, we need to fight for all human rights equally, and I believe that we need to fight together”
I agree we need allies. At the same time, many of us are tired of being expected to support politicians or organizations which do not support us in return. I don’t mind supporting other groups and their struggles - as long as their issues do not overshadow our own.
I appreciate your very informative and thought provoking response to my post. It did cause me to reflect on some of what I wrote; however, I still stand by my ultimate point that the LGBT community should focus on our own issues first.
“LGBT community should focus on our own issues first.”
Logical, it is.
About balance
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