Quote:
Originally posted by Sazare
What thread was this made in response to? I must have missed it. Edit: never mind, found it.
Yes, there can be communities within a community. As LGBTQ+ we are all united by our status as sexual minorities, but within that group there are many other subgroups and unique struggles inherent to each. Unfortunately, cis white gay men and the problems we face tend to get the bulk of the attention whenever any light is shed on the whole community even though we comprise only a fraction of it.
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Then why keep mentioning "the LGBTQ+ community" Doesn't this formulation already homogenize all other instances of queer and trans formations within the broader, "main" community? For me, when I see "the" and "LGBTQ+ community" -- singuralized formulations -- I feel left out or erased because I don't necessarily associate with the mainstream, normalized LGBT community. This mainstream community, as you suggest, is white, affluent, not disabled, etc. I think a more caring and generous formulation would be "LGBTQ+ spaces," where people who identify or have an identification towards these letters and symbols -- L, G, B, T, and + -- can join in.
What happens when people don't identify or have an identification with these letters? Is this where the "+" comes in? I'm a bit lost, because my experiences can't be reduced to mere letters and symbols like "+." I'm quite baffled, because I know a lot of people who are trans or who trans- and who are queer and who queer who don't associate with mainstream LGBTQ+ spaces. I really don't think talking about a single, "majestic" LGBTQ+ community does any good for people like me or minorities who fall outside the bounds of the Eurocentre, as it is embodied and disembodied. To me it looks like "LGBTQ+" is more of an existential issue than a community.
I really think talking about "LGBTQ+ spaces" could de-erase people like me, or people who exist and function within communities of communities. It's less homogenizing and singularizing. I think "LGBTQ+" should stay too, even if I have mixed feelings towards this formulation. While I find it erasive of my person as it is embodied within my body, I think it raises important issues and debates about what it means to be gay, trans, to trans, be queer, to queer, be queer black gay, etc. Queer black lives matter; so do other minorities like queer, disabled fat black lives. Trans, fat, disabled lives? Indigenous, anticolonial queer old lives? It's getting tricky, ain't it?