LGBT: Should we be raising awareness?
I just came across a post offering 5 STEEM to authors who can best raise awareness of the LGBT community. The article has reminded me of many observations I have made over the previous year, some that I have intended to write about, but as per usual, forgot. Before they escape me again, I'm going to share them;
What exactly does "raising awareness" mean in this context?
Should we raise awareness of gay and transgender people? If so- why? If you want to be considered normal, it is not wise to shine a light on your differences to the rest. Furthermore, why is it prudent to raise awareness of anyone's sexuality? If I approached a woman in the street and randomly told her, "I like to have sex with women," I would be slapped or labeled a rapist. But, if I approach someone and tell them, "I like to have sex with men," if they slap me, then they're discriminating against a minority and can be charged with a hate crime?
If the raising of awareness speaks to the individual plights of each member of the LGBT community, who have suffered persecution at the hands of their ignorant and intolerant peers, then I would have to ask; why? Where is the raising of awareness for the plight of the ugly man? He will have a hard time in this world that worships aesthetics. What about the struggles of the dumb? This, unfortunately increasing portion of the human population is at a great disadvantage in several ways, but I see not a millionth of the amount of exposure for their cause. The truth is that you'd do well to find a single person who hasn't had to suffer similar types of intolerance or discrimination, and there's no good reason that I can see why the difficulties of this one group ought to be more worthy of awareness than many of the others.
If it is neither of these two, and if the awareness being raised is towards the societal limitations that hinder the lives of those in the LGBT community, such as no bathroom for transgenders, or laws against gay-marriage etc, then I would have to say; why? While I would love for everyone to have their own personal bathroom, and while I feel everyone should be allowed to have a piece of a paper that tells them how they feel about another person, are these really in the top 10,000 list of things that ought to be changed, fixed, or abolished? I do not think so, and so I can really see no reason at all to be raising awareness of anything.
If you are someone who has decided that you are gay or transgender, then that is inherently your decision to make, and you needn't ask for anyone else's permission. Do what you want to do, as long as you're not hurting anyone.
However, when raising awareness of your sexuality, and the fact that you are proud of it, starts to drown out the sound of very real issues that ought to be getting addressed, then you are in fact hurting people at that point.
More than that, when fighting for equality, reminding everyone of what is different about you never leads there. It only leads to others being unable to look past the very differences you have continued to shine a light on.
If you want tolerance for your community, be it LGBT, women, black, or anything else, then you need only understand one thing;
You can demand that the world recognize your suffering, defining yourself by your differences in the process, and thus perpetuating the cycle of intolerance. Or, you can learn to recognize that the same suffering is present in most community's in one way or another. It is only through looking past our own suffering, and unto that of each and every other, that we might realise we all suffer the same. If we can accomplish this, then intolerance will no longer be a factor when we consider ourselves part of one global community. But as long as we continue to have a global community for the gays, a global community for the blacks, and a global community for the Jews, we will forever look upon one another as completely different from us, and this, difficult to tolerate.
For all the masses that have been brought together in the LGBT community, there is power there. But to any members reading this, allow me to ask you; are your problems, and the problems of your peers, really the most important issue we are faced with in modern society? If the answer is no, then you should ask yourself why the LGBT community isn't just called the people's community, and why it isn't fighting for important changes in other places that matter too.
I agree with many of your points, but I do think there is some use for "awareness" still...
You use the word "decide" when someone feels they are gay or need to be transgendered. The LGBT group that I'm familiar with believe they were born that way. Whether you agree with their assessment of themselves or not isn't really something for us to discuss... (And, BTW, I'm about as straight as they come - and am in the religious community as well.)
Bathrooms and forms to fill out.
If you are someone who has been transgendered (love/hate the idea, doesn't matter), you feel a liar if you put either male or female on the form. If you are a man changed to a woman, you can't really choose either the male or female restroom without problems. it's not asking a special privilege of a private bathroom... They're often simply asking "what about me?" If I were in their shoes I would have the same question, same difficulty. One possible solution I've seen in other countries is to have one large room with completely private cubicles for all members, male/female/other... Don't give me all the reasons why it wouldn't work, let's instead work out the details so that everyone can feel safe and have their needs met.
Why the "LGBT community" rather than the "people's community?" So long as people feel excluded due to their sexuality (real/imagined/altered/natural - doesn't matter) or any other issue, there will always be schisms within the community. The more we all learn to understand each other, the less we need to fear/hate. Instead, we can learn to love each other regardless of our differences, and those with differences will feel less need to speak out for "awareness"...
With respect.
Raising awareness in the way that it has been over these past years is exactly opposite of any of the reasons you have stated.
Lets look at something that is a large percentage then the transgenders, and was completely ignored my whole life. Peanut allergies. You say, the transgenders go to the restroom and think, what about me? Well, it can be an inconvenience, but you learn where the single stall bathrooms are. Now, how about me? I walk into a restaurant, and should I have to worry about dying? I get a candy bar that says without nuts, should I have to worry about dying? Well, my life has been threatened many times. All my friends dread taking me to a new restaurant because I will ask a million questions before even starting to make my decision to order, before...
So, I do not agree with the "what about me", because there is only so much a person, company or restaurant can do. Whatever you do, it will displease someone.
And, the "raising awareness" has done nothing but hurt the slow (everything dealing with communities takes decades) migration to accepting LGBs
Are you still obsessing? Jeez man I tagged you in a post twice and you're STILL refusing to leave your echo chamber?
Steemit has no way of notifying a person of tags.
So, I do not know what you are speaking of.
And, what echo chamber are you speaking of?
I must not have enough gay, lesbian and bisexual friends, is that it?
I seriously feel the push back coming. The way that LGB is forced into people's faces, it is making a large group of people angry. I fear very much for my friend's lives.
I have no idea who your friends are. Your problem is with partisans, not with LGBT people.
I just assumed you were using a bot or one of the many web services to monitor Steemit notifications. GinaBot is pretty great for that sort of thing. My bad for assuming. Anyway this is what I was referencing.
https://mentions.steemdata.com
I tend to believe in a "third way" - it's rarely an all or nothing option. Why does one side have to be completely right and the other completely wrong? In my experience as a parent, it is rarely so simple.
Sure, a company won't want to bear all the burden of this, but the more we start talking about the issues as a society, the sooner we will come up with solutions which work for everyone - the peaceful method. (And no, I'm not a liberal - I just look for ways to get along with others better.) As much as people dislike the "third gender" option turning up in places, it is a simple solution to a complex issue. It's not perfect, as there are no perfect solutions to moral dilemmas, but it's a start.
And it is unfair to involve food allergies on this... that's very different and really should be addressed far more seriously as well. I have a soy intolerance myself - one of the top three allergens in the US and still they put it in everything. Okay, it won't kill me, unless I happen to ingest soy before driving, then it could very well kill others along with me... (It causes severe brain fog for three days or so, and extreme fatigue for a week.) I find it frustrating that I can't eat out without asking a million questions (as you must), I can't buy a loaf of bread for less than $5 (yes, I can/do make it), I can't buy a chocolate bar for less than $3... because the other options always have soy. What's really frustrating with the fatigue thing is that there are many, many people who have the same intolerance, and don't even know it. I didn't know until I started reading labels to try to keep my asthmatic son healthy. Soy was one of the first triggers I discovered, no thanks to doctors... But it's okay to have soy in the schools in every meal, but I can't have a peanut butter sandwich because it might manage to get into contact with you somehow... (Yes, I do understand that your allergy is still more dangerous, but when I had my girls off cow's milk for awhile - testing for an allergy - and wouldn't give them soy, but they couldn't have almond milk at school due to other people's potential allergies, it was frustrating.)
Anyway, keep it up, but I hope you're still open to hearing/learning from others. :-)
I am very open to learning from others.
However, what is happening now is that people and companies are afraid to even talk. One mis-speak and you get a flood of hate mail. This is not good. This is actually making it harder to talk about solutions.
The only thing worse than soy allergies is corn. That stuff is filler in everything. Including medicine. I am sorry to hear of your allergies, that sounds like a real pain. (BTW I grind my own flour to make my bread. I find whole grain flour much much better for the body, I did a post on its benefits.)
As I said to @dreemit, I had originally said "people who believe they are gay" but thought people would say it isn't a belief. I'm struggling to find a better way to put it in all honesty.
I very much like the idea of large bathrooms with many private cubicles. This sounds like a good solution to some of the debates over transgender bathrooms.
I agree and it's irritating to see such contests - I've stumbled across many contests offering larger sums of money to raise awareness for black people or gay people or whatever.
What for? We know you're there, so what's the point?
See, I don't believe these people desire unity and equality at all. Honestly, I think they want superiority. I mean look at their actions. Most behave aggressively to anyone who is different from them.
At this point, it's not about awareness anymore. You, as a minority, have been acknowledged. of course, you have problems (a lot less that 20 years ago, though), but then, who doesn't? Nobody lives a perfect, problemless, blissful life. Nobody is liked by everyone or accepted and endorsed by the entire community.
That's life. To want more is not equality, it's oppressive.
I think you are correct when you say that it seems to be more superiority than acceptance. If you are an LGBT person, and you think that this means you must be a part of the LGBT community, then you have defined yourself by your sexuality alone. I just think we are a hell of a lot more than what makes us horny.
Exactly, they claim to not want to be defined by their sexuality, yet they remind you of it any chance they get...it's absurd.
So I want to start by answering one of the questions you finished with. The answer is no. I don’t believe that the struggles of the LGBT community are the most important issues at hand, but it’s a battle that still needs to be fought, and who better to fight it then the ones being discriminated against.
Now I would like to ask you. Do you believe that the plight of one oppressed group negates the plight of another? I don’t. And while I hate that there are so many fucked up things in this world, I could never raise awareness for them all. And if I’m being honest with myself, I barely have time to raise awareness for my own community effectively.
So I had to choose, and I chose the cause that made the most sense, the cause that I know the plight of on a personal level. This is the best we can do as humans.
Of course we strive to fight for all minorities but the one you will always give your all for is the one where winning affects you on a personal level. No one can fight a battle as passionately as those who are defending their own turf.
I’m curious as to your thoughts on movements regarding race or gender such as women’s rights? You should check out #womenspeakout.
Thank you for actually explaining your perspective and not just spewing out hate like many others who are against the LGBT awareness movement do. I appreciate that you put thought behind this post, even though I strongly disagreee with its content.
I believe one of the aims of steemit is to allow just this. For 2 parties of opposing views to have an intelligent conversation and a real chance to understand each other’s perspectives.
I hope the conversation can continue. After all this is about awareness, not of our sexuality but of our plight. Unfortunately, they go hand in hand.
If possible, could you provide me with a few specific examples of how you feel LGBT's are discriminated against in the West? I ask this because I feel that ambiguity is a major problem area when it comes to discussion surrounding this issue.
I would agree with you that it does not. But I just don't observe gay and transgenders getting persecuted to any degree more than any other group. That is, in the West. I have never been to the Middle-East, but if what has been reported is accurate, then that there would be an LGBT community whose plight ought to be addressed at haste. And for all the LGBT activism I see, which is a lot, it far more often than not focused on how LGBT people are treated in Western countries, rather than in the Middle-East.
I mean not to assert that I know you better than you know yourself, but I would wager that if you have it enough thought, you'd come to the conclusion that the plight you know best is the plight of a human-- not a lesbian, and so the community you should be fighting for is humanity.
I would also like to add that a major problem I have with the LGBT movement in the West is that it heavily focuses on pride. While I am willing to accept that this may have stemmed from an altruistic design to restore confidence in those who were once part of a community that were outcasts in society, but it is no longer serving this purpose. I can go into the city centre right now and I am sure I wouldn't have to walk around long before I passed by a transsexual. I'm sure they would be walking around with their head high, with no eggs or rocks being thrown at them. LGBT's are no longer persecuted, they are now a part of society and have industries revolving around them. So why still the focus on pride? Why was I able to learn in two seconds that you're a lesbian? Because, just as I suspected, you advertise your sexuality right there on your profile. I am guessing it is because you are proud of it? But why? I am not proud to be heterosexual. I feel no need to pat myself on the back and feel proud to exist and to be just the same as everyone else in my uniqueness. The pride march is supposed to be a protest, but it has turned into a street party with far too much flesh on show. If any other community closed down traffic to get in the street and dance around in thongs, because they were proud to be black, Asian, World of Warcraft players or Steemians, the police would shut that shit down. But, LGBT's are so far beyond not being persecuted at this point, that they are actually permitted to do this shit. I feel like there is a lot of complaining about not having any rights, but from where I am sitting, you have more rights than anyone else, because everyone is too afraid to offend you. I digressed into the issue of the gay pride march slightly, but the point I was intending to make is that for me, I would have a lot easier a time empathizing with LGBT struggles if not for the constant self-praise and the common need among LGBT people to disclose their sexual preferences without it being requested of them.
I think it evident that most "grassroots" movements are either bullshit, or they are infiltrated rather quickly, and before long the only purpose they are serving is division. Black lives Matter is inherently stupid because it implies that only black lives matter, thus, the title alone perpetuates division. "Feminism" flaunts the exact same stupidity by claiming to be about equality, but having a title that only recognizes one gender. I just looked at the tag and I am still unsure of what it is really about, but I am assuming it is a derivative of the #metoo movement. I am yet to form a cohesive opinion on this particular movement, but I am naturally skeptical.
I realise it sounds like their should be no groups ever, and we should all focus on everyone always, which is not the case. I just think that if you want to help out a specific group of people, then you unity in your own personal city/town and you support one another. When groups grow too big and become communities, they no longer really want to be a part of the larger existing community, they just want to be the most special sub-community that makes up the larger one. I believe this is akin to how countries were once forged, and may very well be again if we continue to insist we are so different from one another that we need a special community to help us feel proud about the one aspect of your being that we have chosen to define ourselves by.
I think the opportunity for fruitful debate is ripe for the taking on Steemit, however, I don't think you should be so trusting as to believe that is Steemit's aim. Steemit's aim is to make Steemit's largest stakeholders wealthy. If pay-for-vote bots being permitted to run free has not shown you this, then I am not sure what will.
-Sorry if any of this sounds rude. I'm not always great at communicating without a tone of voice, as honesty and frankness is too often perceived to be condescending or combative when consumed through the medium of text. But this is most definitely not the case, and I appreciate the effort you have taken to write such a long and civil comment.
Dude you crack me up. I agree with almost all of this, except for saying they've decided anything. Take it from me and my beautiful gay step son, there is no choice involved. It would be like saying you chose to be with women. Or I chose to like men. The thought of being with a woman is disgusting to me-something Josh and I have in common LOL
Yeah. Interestingly, I had originally written "people who believe they are gay," but I thought people would complain that it isn't a belief, it's how it is. It seem the language, or at least mine, is limited in regards to finding a non-offensive way to say something rather simple. Lol.
I do understand your angle here.
Yet it is different because of the abuse,laws against against, and the discrimination and slander that still occurs.
Similar to women’s rights or ‘indigenous’ ‘black’ rights.
I am not too sure which laws you mean, but I know that following this road only leads to more "affirmative action" type shit, where people get jobs just because they're gay or transsexual, regardless of whether there is a heterosexual person who is better at the job.
It’s easy to say if you are heterosexual. It’s Herero privilege... there’s plenty of jobs for every one. I am taking about the countries where it’s illegal to be homosexual or love someone of the same gender and your are murdered for it.
I agree with you on the foreign issue, it is just in the West that I no longer witness the persecution of the LGBT community. Much to the contrary, I see the glorification it in most cases.
👌🏼
I agree with your summation, and would say that these people pushing this agenda are missing something huge.
There was the same kind of push back before Nazi Germany. The push ended in blowback with raise of the Nazi party.
The same people are doing the same thing again. I mean literally. The same families are doing the same thing. Remember Grandpa Bush funded Hitler.
What I do not see is people talking about their perceptions, so that the larger group can come to understand them and not feel awkward. So that the LGBT can be seen as something other than the bogeyman. So that they become something other than fear of the unknown/different.
I don't think they're missing anything. I think it's going just as planned, though I don't see LGBT persons as the boogeyman. In regards to transgenders specifically, I think that they need us to be accustomed to humans upgrading and alternating their body parts, so that it won't be so shocking when they want to sell us digital upgrades for our own bodies. The goal is always more control, and so this is the inevitable future the way I see it. How better to control the people than to have legitimate control over their minds and muscles, but this can only be achieved through some serious hardware upgrades, and if we had never had this transgender stepping stone in between, then I don't think the people would have been for it. But now that we are being conditioned to believe that our bodies are customizable, down to the very limbs and even the organs, it won't be hard for us to accept. In fact, we will love it-
Yep, just like we will love self driving cars.
In fact, why do they sell cars anymore? It really isn't your car. You can't do with it what you please. You need THEIR software and THEIR computer interface to fix it and keep it driving. We are already way past the point where the car is anything but rented out for a while.
They talk all the time about gender changes, but never talk about the original gender change operation place closed down because 50% of the clientèle committed suicide.
I definitely feel there is a good deal of facts supporting your supposition.