Sunday Bitter Sunday #9

This was supposed to be posted last week, but me and Bitter B were too bitter to even finish writing it.

Sunday Bitter Sunday #9: The Advocate

Although I will give The Advocate props for being the oldest running gay magazine, that’s about all I’m willing to give it props for. Much like Human Rights Campaign and other assimilationist queer groups, it’s not for the whole queer community, but is geared towards white gay men and lesbians. For that reason, it’s been awhile since I’ve picked up a copy, and it’s generally been “out of sight, out of mind” for me. Until I saw the cover for the most recent issue:

Fail. Complete and utter fail.

For so many reasons.

First of all, the work of the Civil Rights movement is not finished. Racism is still a reality in the lives of black people in this country (and of people of color in general). The passage of the Civil Rights Act didn’t change that. To suggest that the struggle for racial equality is over (or is antiquated) is doing a huge disservice to people of color in this country. It is denying and bellitting our experiences, as well as completely ignoring the fact that some people are both gay and black (wow, what a concept).

Secondly, there are far too many other social movements and struggles happening now to suggest that gay rights (and notice how the terminology used is “gay rights”, not queer or LGBTQ or anything more inclusive) is “the last great civil rights struggle”. That whole language is just buying into “oppression olympics” bullshit. What about transfolks, intersex people, immigrants, fat people, and atheists/non-believers? What about all the complex intersections of identities that people have. What about all the other issues facing the queer community? Although I think queers should have the right to get married if we want to, I’m sick of the idea that that’s the most important issue facing the community. In some ways, I feel like the marriage movement is about white gays and lesbians wanting to gain access to the same privileges as their straight counterparts. I worry that once we achieve marriage equality, all the trannies, and the brown people, and the freaks, and the outlaws in the community will be left in the dust and forgotten.

When I look at that Advocate cover, I can’t help but think about all these problems. It’s like a visual representation of the failures of the mainstream gay and lesbian movement.

Sunday Bitter Sunday #6

This past Wednesday afternoon I was struck down by a brutal stomach virus. I was on my way to my hometown to take my parents out to dinner when the symptoms started to come on hardcore. By the time I made it to my parent’s house I was shivering, nauseous as all hell and had a fever of 101. I’m just glad I made it there though because I don’t think I would have able to take care of myself. Besides, when you’re sick, there’s nothing like having Mom there. Finally made it back to Berkeley yesterday and slept for 14 hours while Bitter Batman watched over me stoically. But in between dry heaves there were still plenty of other things that left a bitter taste in my mouth and they seemed to have a common thread.

So now I bring you Sunday Bitter Sunday #6: The Race & Religion Edition

1) The whole “let’s blame the black community for Prop 8’s passage” meme

No, let’s not. I know that a large percentage of black people voted for it (which, as a black queer person I find deeply dissapointing). But scapegoating some mythical, monolithic black community is not helping anything. Especially considering that blacks make up a small percentage of the electorate and that the white religious vote was far more influential in swaying that prop to pass. Plus the “black vs. gays” narrative doesn’t really address the fact that some people are both. But Janelle has an awesome list of links from people who break it down much better than I have here.

2) Essence Magazine

I’m not a huge fan of Essence, or of “women’s magazines” in general. Mainly because (to paraphrase Morrissey) they say nothing to me about my life. I’m not terribly interested in dieting, or most celebrity gossip, or sex tips on how to please my man (don’t have one and frankly don’t want one). Essence is geared toward a very specific group of black women: straight, professional, upwardly-mobile, rap/r&b listening, christian 30-somethings. Seeing as how I fail on all counts, obviously not the magazine for me. But while I was on my “death bed” this weekend my mom gave me the most recent copy:

“Be the woman God wants you to be…” Hmm, no thanks, I’m cool with being the person I want to be. I guess Essence figured all the atheist, agnostic, and even Buddhist sistas wouldn’t mind because we’re already too hippie dippie weirdo to read their magazine in the first place.

3) The Mormon Church and their record on race

After sleeping for 14 hours, I woke up this morning needing a laugh when I came across this video via a blogpost at Black Woman Thinks:

The whole video is hilarious (in that “if I didn’t laugh at this I’d start crying uncontrollably” kind of way), but the best part is at about 2:20 where we learn where black people came from. After watching that, I was curious to find out when the Mormon’s changed their tune about about black people being inferior and all that. Turns out that back in the 70s they were catching a lot of flak from other university sports teams who wanted to boycott BYU. And the federal government was making noises about taking away their tax-exempt status. When lo and behold, in 1978 they receive a revelation from on high to stop discrimination against blacks. Now that’s a conveniently timed revelation.