In the second workshop session we started discussing discrimination within the LGBT society. For a start we discussed the following statements and they served us as an impulse for discussion.
In an ideal world, we would not have to label ourselves as lesbian, gay or bisexual because no one would care who we slept with. The reason we end labelling ourselves is because, if we didn’t, society would automatically assume that we should be labelled as heterosexual. Labels are a way of saying ‘we are not what you think’. However, many people will change their label once or maybe more during their lifetime. There are people who identify as lesbian or gay who sleep with members of the opposite sex.
There are people who identify as bisexual who almost exclusively sleep with one sex or the other.
There are people who call themselves straight who don’t just sleep with the opposite sex.
Human sexuality is a lot less straightforward than we are led to believe, and is important not to make assumptions about people sexuality on the basis of a label that is often adopted for
convenience.
There is a disturbing emphasis on all-or-nothing-ism in the LGBT world, Defining as straight or as gay is important and often a political decision. In order to show solidarity with the queer community many have the feeling it is very important to identify ay gay especially as the world otherwise expects that you are hetero anyway. Bisexuals are often afraid to be rejected by the gay community and by the heterosexual world at the same time by being what they are. Even the queer community tends to not want shades of grey, but black or white. So bisexuals seem to be a threat for either side – gay and straight – as bi suggests shades of grey on a battlefield that has been marked out in black and white. On this battlefield you are not supposed to confuse the message, which would just give the enemy points, so bisexuality is very invisible, even in the LGBT community. Coming out in the LGBT world as Bisexual isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do and especially when in a opposite sex relationship at the moment.
All too often LGBT groups are male dominated. They are usually run by men and often centre on traditional gay culture. The scene, although better than it used to be is still run by men for men, and so many women may rely on a ‘women friendly’ group to come out. When building LGBT societies, officers and LGBT committees should think about the wide diversity of people they are trying to appeal to.
There are quite a few problems with the way mainstream gay culture often dominates LGB groups. This not only excludes women but also many men, to whom being gay doesn’t mean liking Kylie, Judy and Barbara. Some of the main problems for women on the social side of LGB groups and the wider community are:
There are many issues which do specifically affect women, but which are, unfortunately, all too often not addressed. Special issues:
Transgender people are often not welcome and the LGB community tends to be transphob. We did not discuss much about it, as no one of us is expert in this field. Which also shows which minor role trans issues play in our organisations