Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Can we ever accept ourselves?




GLBT men and women have been campaigning for acceptance, equitability, and legal protections for decades.  Victories have been achieved: same sex marriages in some jurisdictions, legal protections, and social programs.  We still have very far to go with the world and ourselves.

Stories of gay bashings, homophobic slurs, mistreatment at work, and prejudice are too common.  An obviously homosexual male, especially in redneck Alberta, would inevitably be the subject of some torment (I can attest to this myself).  But its not just conservative, redneck, douche nozzles judging us—we do it ourselves too.

The gay community, which appears to stand in solidarity against homophobia, is deeply divided.  Want proof?  Go to a gay bar, any gay bar, and watch how people interact.  There is more often than not segregated groups of people with similar characteristics.  Twinks, bears, flamey gay guys, butch lesbians, and the more homely crowd.  Yeah, on the surface its nothing, its superficial—its just like high school!  But look closer, a community of oppressed and judged minorities is further judging its own members.  What the hell has gone wrong?  If we truly want acceptance from the world we need to learn to accept our community members for who they are and ourselves.
Posted by at 1:04 PM
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2 comments:

  1. Is the segregation inside the gay bar (and the larger gay community) really the result of a deep divide within the gay community, or is it simply the natural human tendency to form cliques of like individuals?
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  2. good point. I could argue for both... but it still is very disheartening to see the community divided like this. E.g. Vancouver has a Dyke March specifically for lesbians and the Pride Parade is mostly gay male oriented, it seems.

    Social groups will form comprised of people with like characteristics but it seems these divisions go far beyond the gay bars and social gathering places. Being somewhat involved in the community I see the same *type* of people volunteering at all levels and the same *types* of people accessing services. Most importantly, when human rights infringements occur (e.g. Bill 44) small segments of the queer community are actually doing something about it, certain cliques it seems.

    I hope I'm making sense--its a very complex phenomenon to look at. But perhaps I'm neglecting to recognize basic human characteristics, like in your comment with cliques, and getting frustrated with the lack of cohesion in the gay rights movement.

    Hmm.... Thanks for the thought provoking comment
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