Smash the fascist heteronormative orthodoxy
It's weird that I've reached 42 and up to now not really held this view - but I realize now that the way that the whole society is constructed, in it's entirety is for straight people/heterosexuals. Others are tolerated- even accepted at times in history/other cultures etc, but thats all it is : tolerance. That tolerance is easily tested - and in my recent experience, at work (in the mental health department at least), in Shul, and with straight so called 'friends' even when gay people are wonderful and amazing (and I'm not saying we all are all the time) we are never quite as good as straights.
So how does this all work? Let's take an example from a recent meeting at work, where all the (straight) men sit back talking about football (in that newly constructed man way that only nauseating liberal-left 'meterosexual man' types can..). That talk is excluding - it excludes many gay men who have often not felt comfortable in the sports arena. It excludes others too ... people of different abilities etc. What else - last year at Gay Pride I wrote an email to my department at work (who really should be sensitive to gay and lesbian issues but in fact are about as sensitive as a brick) and although it was accepted the chief of the tormentors wrote an email back to the department saying something like 'and lets remember all those discriminated against because they are mentally ill'. NO. They have their own day- that wasn't the point - it's like it can't be accepted that we as lesbian/gay and trans people should have and deserve our own PRIDE day without qualifying it in some other world that straights can relate to. This has made me, on principle, never attend department meetings anymore - and now I feel the need to become more active in regard to these very crucially important issues. I have never felt so excluded and disenfranchised in my life...
So how does this all work? Let's take an example from a recent meeting at work, where all the (straight) men sit back talking about football (in that newly constructed man way that only nauseating liberal-left 'meterosexual man' types can..). That talk is excluding - it excludes many gay men who have often not felt comfortable in the sports arena. It excludes others too ... people of different abilities etc. What else - last year at Gay Pride I wrote an email to my department at work (who really should be sensitive to gay and lesbian issues but in fact are about as sensitive as a brick) and although it was accepted the chief of the tormentors wrote an email back to the department saying something like 'and lets remember all those discriminated against because they are mentally ill'. NO. They have their own day- that wasn't the point - it's like it can't be accepted that we as lesbian/gay and trans people should have and deserve our own PRIDE day without qualifying it in some other world that straights can relate to. This has made me, on principle, never attend department meetings anymore - and now I feel the need to become more active in regard to these very crucially important issues. I have never felt so excluded and disenfranchised in my life...
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