What’s so important about knowing and understanding your queer history?
Cerian Jenkins tweeted about Marsha P Johnson at the start of this month, Pride Month. She commented: “We owe our history to a homeless, black, bisexual trans woman who was a sex worker. We owe Marsha P Johnson our #Pride. Remember that. Especially at a time where trans people & people of colour are being left behind and let down by society — including the LGB community.”
It’s a heartfelt message to remember where queer people, across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, have come from. We didn’t appear at Stonewall for the first time, but it is regarded as one turning point, a moment of rebellion, that helped propel us into a better future. But it wasn’t the positivity or reverence in this message that stood out most once I’d RT’d, it was the response from 10/11 year old (based on their Twitter DOB) responder:
It reminded me of the controversial (and uninformed) article published earlier this year in Attitude magazine; a magazine for gay men, in which the “writer” insisted: “Young queer people shouldn’t be obliged to care about LGBT history — and that’s the biggest success”. In the article, which I won’t promote by linking to, he essentially argues that young queer people are too busy drinking and working to think or care about what came before their first memories, and that’s the real win here.
Now, while the idea that young LGBTQIA people should living in a world where their gender identity, sexuality or any other aspect of who they are, doesn’t affect their lives, is one that is easy to get on board with. Yet we must acknowledge we aren’t there yet. It isn’t just the respect for history and those who paved the way that’s important, it’s the very idea of intersectionality, of race and class and wealth and privilege, and how it has allowed some of those in the queer community to flourish, while others continue to suffer, that makes the reckless post so angering. Cis white gay men are reaping the benefits that the poor, POC, bisexual, aromantic and other groups helped create and equally deserve.
Learning about queer history IS necessary
When it comes to young people, like the tweeter who responded to Cerian, there is both an instinct to wag the finger and correct, but there is also a small part of me that understands. I don’t agree but I understand. Learning is hard, that’s why I’m not going back to university any time soon and why I spent so much of my university years doing literally anything except picking up a book. But information is power and I wish I’d learned that sooner. Knowing about LGBTQIA history and how we got here will open your eyes to exactly how much further we have to go. Cerian had a great response to the reply she got, one that not everyone fighting for true equality always has the energy for:
There are so many switched on, activated and well informed young people out there, and I very much don’t want it to seem like I’m targeting young people. Ignorance isn’t age restricted. It is, however, a choice, reasonably speaking. I have been very ignorant of so many things, and only through educating myself both practively and by chance, through informed and engaging content (hi Them, The Queerness, Bi.org and so many more), have I been able to understand the scope of what we are trying to achieve.
What will this Pride month hold?
This month should be about celebration, yes, but also about consideration. I’ve loved Pride and I’ve hated it. At its peak it was the time when I got to openly be as much of myself as I dared, with rainbow flag, glitter nails and all the queer and ally people around me watching the parade go by and cheering. At its worst I felt like the drunken, sweaty, muscle focused street celebrations with capital G and lowercase L and non-existent BTQIA, all felt like roadblocks to what should be a shared protest, remembrance and party.
You don’t have to know everything at once. It’s not possible to be informed about it all. You can learn though, you can let yourself understand a little more each day by asking questions, both to Google and other people, and you can help lift up those in the LGBTQIA community with less visibility and opportunities than yourself. That means non-binary people, asexual people, people of colour, pansexuals, queer disabled people, immigrants, the elderly, everyone who falls under the big umbrella of queerness. If nothing else use this month, this week, today, to learn what you can about queer history, then decide whether you think it was worth it.
