Why do we discriminate within our own communities? Why do we as minorities continue to divide amongst ourselves?
All inroads made in securing rights as a group are useless until we as individuals stand together understanding and supporting each other. In the gay community, divides and discriminations exist preventing us from seeing the whole rich diverse realm of the queer experience.
It seems like once we as individuals have found our way out of the closet we let the door close behind us, keeping those who follow in the dark. In many ways this is a survival technique that resemble the politics of oppression, a theory I first heard about it in Sherry McKibben’s book Daunting Tasks, Dedicated People.
The politics begin when two or more minority groups both working to secure similar rights and resources begin to fight each other. The oppression starts when a dominant group emerges and starts actively discriminating and oppressing the other group.
The other part of the politics of oppression is when the other groups start working to ensure that they are being heard. The best example of this is the Dyke March that was created to happen before the Pride Parade because the Parade was seen as being largely absent of diversity beyond the different colors of booty shorts that adorned men’s butts.
The politics of oppression elongates the chain of discrimination and begins a new cycle of prejudice, as Mckibben illustrates using the AIDS movement as an example in her book. A lot of understanding can be generated through the politics of oppression but often the price paid is very high.
The early days of AIDS saw the media shying away from imagery and mention of homosexuality, resulting in the under reporting of AIDS. Then the pendulum swung too far the other way and the general understanding was that AIDS was only a gay disease. By the time the late-’90s rolled around a degree of equilibrium had been established: there was a growing awareness that AIDS not only affected gay men but also drug addicts, the urban poor, First Nations people, lesbians, housewives and many other people from all social classes.
As AZT and other meds entered the picture prolonging people’s lives, the virus was seen as less dramatic and therefore less of a story. The media’s attention on AIDS, especially in relation to gay men, began to wane altogether and funding became complicated.
Like any group would when faced with extinction, gay men fought to stay relevant to stay alive. AIDS taught everyone involved that attention was access, and access was life. Gay men, who had lost so much and gained so much in the face of AIDS, were not about to go quietly into the night.
Neither were the other groups. As the ’90s ended, AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs) began to break apart. Where there once appeared to be a community working together for the benefit of everyone there were now splinter organizations all fighting with each and struggling just to keep their heads above water.
In the end it was all people living with AIDS that were adversely affected by the politics of oppression. Money was stretched too thin between too many groups and a lot of good will and awareness momentum that had been generated was lost.
I see this in the gay community between the gay white passing male (GWPM) and everybody else. As pop culture celebrates and lavishes validation on the GWPM all other queers are left outside still looking in.
The experience of the gay men in the ’90s through the AIDS movement may be why today GWPM have a strong presence in gay representation but I don’t think it is that simple. I think GWPMs were the first to be invited to the bigger table and for the most part the work landed in their laps and has been left with them ever since.
The small handful of people doing the work, coupled with systemic discrimination, has resulted in representations of homosexuality largely devoid of people of colour, disability, gender, less-than-ideal bodies and economic diversity. This has not only created a ghettoized gay culture but also a crisis of identity for many people within the homo community; seldom is any one of us just gay. As we might fight for our rights in the bedroom and beyond we are also fighting parallel wars for mobility, self worth and other often forgotten issues.
In the last decade, human rights victories are starting to be animated by gay culture becoming more accessible and open. Through different methods of representations, the gay community has been able to tell our friends, our neighbors and our families about ourselves.
In the rush to be heard and seen as equal we have missed an opportunity to share the wholeness and diversity of queer culture both to the larger society and each other. We were so focused on looking forward that we forgot to look within
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