You are right, Riveria warned us about this from the get go. Sadly this has been an issue in LGBTQIA+ community for decades and was heightened post-legalization of Gay Marriage. Most white middle class cis gay and lesbians got what they wanted and turned away from the Collective Liberation movement. They are happy with just "LGB" and want assimilation...they don't care about the rest of us because quite simply, we can't or don't want to assimilate. And also. Instead of being in solidarity with queer, trans, non-binary and the most marginalized of our community such as sex workers and inmates as we are under literal assault and threats right now, they are taking up space and centering themselves talking about how scared they are with the potential revocation of Gay Marriage. They completely miss the whole point: None of us is safe until we are all free.
Im seeing this a lot across the board re: gender, race, ethnicity, income, and so on. We need to unify against tyranny, period. Otherwise, we all perish. Enough with the in fighting and segrigation.
This was eye-opening for me in several ways. Thank you for bringing parts of history to light that I didn't fully understand and for more insight into the current situation.
I've just started reading your work Kahlil, I really love how insightful and researched your pieces are. I agree with you that so many gay men have abandoned the others in our community. They forget that so many of our rights are up for debate every election. We have to stay strong together and fight for everyone in our community. That said, I go to queer spaces now here in Berlin, and I'm surprised how often my presence is questioned. Do I know what this bar is? My queer politics are interrogated before I can even buy a drink. I've been taken to task for not knowing a term. There's a presumption that I don't know what it is to suffer and therefore don't get it. There's a hostility amongst us, towards each other that I see and do not like. It saddens me, because the people who are against us, we are starting to do their work for them.
Wow! I now understand the actions of people like Roy Cohn, Peter Thiel and Log Cabin Republicans. And crickets from Caitlyn Jenner. I should not be surprised because there are selfish, power hungry people are found in all categories of humans. Thank you again for providing some historical context to these times.
Thanks for this. The following is not to ignore the injustices you highlight in your piece. It was wrong for mostly white and middle class or wealthy members to sideline the Sylvia Rivera as Rivera and STAR and those she represented at the microphone.
I have a gay aunt who after she came out to us once told me that being gay was only a part of her identity. She resented people assuming that her being a lesbian would dictate her political choices or who she would hang out with. I think she still does.
Of course she is white, has become rich, and lives in Virginia so she has multiple incentives not to make being gay the focal point of what people know about her or think about her. She also was over 40 before she came out to her family so she’s lived more of her life with it being hidden.
Anyway, I’m sympathetic to her desire to not be pigeonholed by her sexuality. She wants to be recognized for her work, her contributions, her character, not by the person she loves.
I got chills in my back reading this because I suspected this was coming. It’s fine to celebrate but I find that people easily forget how it was before once they get they so called ‘rights.’ Sylvia Rivera is absolutely right! Never leave anyone behind even the so called undesirables,😔
Hello Kahlil, I am a student at the University of the District of Columbia and I heard you are coming to speak there, so I wanted to read some of your work before-hand. I find this to be an extremely relevant topic. I myself am a gay cis-gender white man, yet unlike those mentioned in this article, I in no way shape or form consider myself to be conservative. Among my friend groups I increasingly hear comments about how being trans and being gay are different and they shouldn't be lumped together. I am not sure where I land on this complex and nuanced idea but I do know that I frame it differently then you do in this article. Usually when this topic is brought up amongst my gay friends their comments have undertones of a desire for the T to be taken off of LGBT because of how it affects them as gay men. I respond in a way that emphasizes that there is a unique difference between the LGBs and the Ts, but acknowledges how it affects the Ts. I think that the lumping of T into LGBT is a disservice to trans people. I fully understand how historically because of how power structures and public opinion are designed in this country that it was at one point a necessity for gays to include trans people. I now feel as though this is no longer helping trans people, if those in power think that gays are happy and satisfied with their legal rights because they can marry, then they assume that trans people should also be happy with theirs, because they're the same group, right? I thinks trans people have different needs and desires in terms of their legal protections and medical care than do gays and lesbians. When it comes to the topic of gays vs trans the gays worry about how it affects them, that is the mentality your article focused on. I would encourage gay people to instead think about how the separation and difference between the two affects the trans people, the ones most vulnerable and targeted right now. But, as much as I wish this were the case people have a natural tendency to be selfish and only worry about how things affect them not others. I enjoyed reading this, you are very intelligent and I already have much respect for you. I look forward to hearing you speak at UDC!
Thanks for this. It should be a warning for all marginalized groups who have chosen to support Trump: Blacks…Women…Jews… No one is safe until ALL are safe.
“First they came for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.”
Martin Neimoller
I was alive for all of this. Pay attention and don’t take the bait.
This is one Gay Man who hasn’t and won’t 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
You are right, Riveria warned us about this from the get go. Sadly this has been an issue in LGBTQIA+ community for decades and was heightened post-legalization of Gay Marriage. Most white middle class cis gay and lesbians got what they wanted and turned away from the Collective Liberation movement. They are happy with just "LGB" and want assimilation...they don't care about the rest of us because quite simply, we can't or don't want to assimilate. And also. Instead of being in solidarity with queer, trans, non-binary and the most marginalized of our community such as sex workers and inmates as we are under literal assault and threats right now, they are taking up space and centering themselves talking about how scared they are with the potential revocation of Gay Marriage. They completely miss the whole point: None of us is safe until we are all free.
Im seeing this a lot across the board re: gender, race, ethnicity, income, and so on. We need to unify against tyranny, period. Otherwise, we all perish. Enough with the in fighting and segrigation.
Thank you for this. I'd been struggling to understand the silence around what's happening to the queer community.
How ridiculous for any one of us to say other Americans civil rights are not our fight.
This was eye-opening for me in several ways. Thank you for bringing parts of history to light that I didn't fully understand and for more insight into the current situation.
I've just started reading your work Kahlil, I really love how insightful and researched your pieces are. I agree with you that so many gay men have abandoned the others in our community. They forget that so many of our rights are up for debate every election. We have to stay strong together and fight for everyone in our community. That said, I go to queer spaces now here in Berlin, and I'm surprised how often my presence is questioned. Do I know what this bar is? My queer politics are interrogated before I can even buy a drink. I've been taken to task for not knowing a term. There's a presumption that I don't know what it is to suffer and therefore don't get it. There's a hostility amongst us, towards each other that I see and do not like. It saddens me, because the people who are against us, we are starting to do their work for them.
Wow! I now understand the actions of people like Roy Cohn, Peter Thiel and Log Cabin Republicans. And crickets from Caitlyn Jenner. I should not be surprised because there are selfish, power hungry people are found in all categories of humans. Thank you again for providing some historical context to these times.
Thanks for this. The following is not to ignore the injustices you highlight in your piece. It was wrong for mostly white and middle class or wealthy members to sideline the Sylvia Rivera as Rivera and STAR and those she represented at the microphone.
I have a gay aunt who after she came out to us once told me that being gay was only a part of her identity. She resented people assuming that her being a lesbian would dictate her political choices or who she would hang out with. I think she still does.
Of course she is white, has become rich, and lives in Virginia so she has multiple incentives not to make being gay the focal point of what people know about her or think about her. She also was over 40 before she came out to her family so she’s lived more of her life with it being hidden.
Anyway, I’m sympathetic to her desire to not be pigeonholed by her sexuality. She wants to be recognized for her work, her contributions, her character, not by the person she loves.
Wonderful article. I also think that Democrats are starting to adopt a page out of the gay conservative playbook as well for “electability”
I got chills in my back reading this because I suspected this was coming. It’s fine to celebrate but I find that people easily forget how it was before once they get they so called ‘rights.’ Sylvia Rivera is absolutely right! Never leave anyone behind even the so called undesirables,😔
Hello Kahlil, I am a student at the University of the District of Columbia and I heard you are coming to speak there, so I wanted to read some of your work before-hand. I find this to be an extremely relevant topic. I myself am a gay cis-gender white man, yet unlike those mentioned in this article, I in no way shape or form consider myself to be conservative. Among my friend groups I increasingly hear comments about how being trans and being gay are different and they shouldn't be lumped together. I am not sure where I land on this complex and nuanced idea but I do know that I frame it differently then you do in this article. Usually when this topic is brought up amongst my gay friends their comments have undertones of a desire for the T to be taken off of LGBT because of how it affects them as gay men. I respond in a way that emphasizes that there is a unique difference between the LGBs and the Ts, but acknowledges how it affects the Ts. I think that the lumping of T into LGBT is a disservice to trans people. I fully understand how historically because of how power structures and public opinion are designed in this country that it was at one point a necessity for gays to include trans people. I now feel as though this is no longer helping trans people, if those in power think that gays are happy and satisfied with their legal rights because they can marry, then they assume that trans people should also be happy with theirs, because they're the same group, right? I thinks trans people have different needs and desires in terms of their legal protections and medical care than do gays and lesbians. When it comes to the topic of gays vs trans the gays worry about how it affects them, that is the mentality your article focused on. I would encourage gay people to instead think about how the separation and difference between the two affects the trans people, the ones most vulnerable and targeted right now. But, as much as I wish this were the case people have a natural tendency to be selfish and only worry about how things affect them not others. I enjoyed reading this, you are very intelligent and I already have much respect for you. I look forward to hearing you speak at UDC!
Thanks for this. It should be a warning for all marginalized groups who have chosen to support Trump: Blacks…Women…Jews… No one is safe until ALL are safe.
So looking forward to read this! a tremendous thanks to you for sharing.
I saved this for later today to dive into hopefully :)