A lot of queer people defend the idea of creating non-political spaces by saying that queer people deserve the chance to lay down our weapons and have a break once in a while. And this is true, but only for some of us. The people it’s not true for are the sorts of people who say those things. They don’t deserve any time spent not thinking about politics.
Yes, I am being provocative on purpose. I’m being provocative because the argument I just described in favour of apolitics is bad-faith, deceptive, and harmful. I intend to provoke these people, because, as I said, they don’t deserve not to feel provoked. They deserve to be forced to think about queer discourse.
Why? Well, let’s start at the beginning.
Heteropatriarchal society deliberately transforms queerness into a subversive act. It wasn’t so long ago that gay people had to have sex in secret to avoid legal prosecution. And that trans people of all genders and presentations had to closet and/or stealth at all costs in every part of the world.
Thankfully, that’s not the case anymore. Gay marriage is legal in much of the world, homosexuality is not frowned upon in public, and around half the population in the english speaking world has basic respect for binary trans people. This happened because queer people threw bricks at cops and paraded through the streets in our BDSM gear, forcing cishet people to tolerate us even if they didn’t want to. We participated in what the TikTok youth call “discourse”. And every inch of ground we gain in the fight for equality is gained by fighting.
The warriors of the queer movement, the LGBT+, deserve to rest. The heroes of the past and the fighters of the present deserve places where we can let our guard down and not think about the people who want us dead. We deserve to breathe out and let the weight on our shoulders collapse. Because tomorrow we’re going right back out there to fight for our right to exist again.
But what about the gay people in business suits who assimilate into straight culture? What about the trans people who dismiss xenogenders to preserve their community’s sanitised corporate-friendly image? What about the people who aren’t interested in fighting, and who actively work to create spaces antithetical to fighting for queer liberation?
Fuck em.
Fuck them all.
No, none of these people deserve a break from politics of discourse. You do not get to take advantage of the kindness of others and give nothing to the next generation. You don’t deserve to pull the ladder up behind you. You don’t deserve to put the plights of your allies out of your mind forever.
The queer movement, the LGBT+, is an alliance. If you choose not to ally with us, then you are not a member. Any gay, bi, trans, or nonbinary person who does not fight for our rights is not LGBT. And you don’t deserve to opt out of discourse. You’re not a member of the community, you’re just another willfully ignorant heteropatriarch. You’re the enemy, and we won’t back down.
Queer people who actually care, you’re fucking awesome and I love you, keep being cool.
