Some definitions of “queer”
are “abnormal” and “deviant,” and when LGBT people apply these names to
themselves they are consigning themselves to pariah status in the eyes of
potential Straight allies and others.
The whole point of this Civil Rights movement must be to have people see
that being LGBT is normal, and a mere variation of statistical norms that exist
in each and every society.
In his book, Outsiders,
the late Howard S. Becker said that there is nothing intrinsic in the quality
of an act that makes it deviant. An act
or, in this case, a person, is only considered “deviant” when the label of
“deviance” is successfully applied to that act or person.
Hence, in this context, when
LGBT people define themselves as “queer,” they are applying the label of
“deviance” to themselves, and giving tacit permission to others to view them in
that light. Therefore, they are enabling
people to give themselves permission to see them as “the deviant,” “the other,”
“the outsider,” and even “the pariah” in society.
Here, the people who define
themselves in this way seem to be comfortable, if not to revel, in their status
of being an outsider, and not being seen as fully equal to heterosexuals. Witting or unwitting self-loathing might well
be the basis of tenaciously hanging on to that word as a self-identifier. One of the reasons that same-sex marriage is
so important is that beyond cementing the sanctity of the marriage of two gay
people it is showing all who have eyes to see that save for affectional/sexual
orientation there is no difference between LGBT people and heterosexuals.
Many years ago, I wrote about
this thesis on someone else’s blog and was shocked by the level of hostility I
received from those who were wedded to seeing themselves as “queer.” I was accused of being ignorant, of not
knowing what I was talking about, of having hostility to LGBT people, etc. I’m not easily shocked, but I was shocked by
the level of hatred directed toward me when I said that LGBT people are normal,
and must not be seen as abnormal in any way.
These people reveled in
seeing themselves as being deviant or outsiders, and wanted others to see them
as being deviant or outsiders as well.
To say that they were shooting themselves in the foot is a gross
understatement.
I’m happily surprised at the
rate that same-sex marriage has increased in the U.S. However, I’m afraid that there will be a
backlash, given the reactionary political sensibilities of much of the
electorate as seen in the recent midterm elections.
It is vital that there is a
human face placed upon LGBT people to which others can relate as being of like
kind and deserving of full and complete equality in every facet of life. By referring to oneself as “queer,”
permission is given for others to view LGBT people as “the other, “ “the
stranger,” and even worthy of discrimination.
We have a reactionary United
States Supreme Court, and one of our allies, the elderly Ruth Bader Ginsberg,
just underwent a procedure to remove a blockage from her heart. We can’t be sanguine about future rulings
from that court affirming same-sex marriage as a Constitutional right.
And referring to LGBT people
as “the other,” and “the deviant,” which are synonyms for “queer,” can do
nothing but help assure further discrimination by people, including the
judiciary, in retarding, if not revoking, many of the gains made in the fight
for full LGBT equality in all dimensions of life.
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