*Phone rings*
"Oh hey, establishment, I'm glad I
caught you, how are you?
Oh wow, that's great! Glad to hear
everyone is doing well, listen, I'm afraid my group of people aren't too happy
with the way you are treating us, we've discussed it, and we've decided we need
to protest.
So I wanted to try to book in a time where
it would be convenient for you. How about next Tuesday....no? You've a Scrabble
tournament? Wednesday...oh, that would indeed interrupt you.
Next Saturday? That sounds good, thank you
so much for allowing us to protest!"
SAID NO ACTIVIST EVER!!!!
So in my lovely hometown of Toronto, we
have had our Pride celebrations. To commemorate those who have protested for
rights, those who still do, those who have died and to provide an opportunity
to celebrate your identity within the LGBTQ community. It's wonderful right?
I'm lucky enough to live in a place where not only the Mayor of Toronto, the
Premier of Ontario and the Prime Minister of Canada come out to support Pride.
It sends a messages to millions that this is a place where we continually
working on and pushing forward on rights and safeties for people of this
community. It's far from perfect and there is still a long way to go, but
compared to other parts of the world, it's pretty groovy.
So festivities in full tilt, the parade is
halted by the Black Lives Matter movement.
Shortly after people lost their shit. Some of the comments when along the lines of "how dare you! I had to wait in the sun for the parade!!" "You should have protested this earlier!" (Behind closed doors). “You are only allowed here as invited guests!” “ALL LIVES MATTER!!!!” “What a disgrace to your people!” “Go fight black on black crime!” “You’re racists” “We all know that black people hate homosexuals” “You guys are thugs” “I used to support Black Lives Matter, but not anymore!” “How can we take you seriously when you are using slang” All of these are paraphrased things I’ve seen on my newsfeed this morning.
Shortly after people lost their shit. Some of the comments when along the lines of "how dare you! I had to wait in the sun for the parade!!" "You should have protested this earlier!" (Behind closed doors). “You are only allowed here as invited guests!” “ALL LIVES MATTER!!!!” “What a disgrace to your people!” “Go fight black on black crime!” “You’re racists” “We all know that black people hate homosexuals” “You guys are thugs” “I used to support Black Lives Matter, but not anymore!” “How can we take you seriously when you are using slang” All of these are paraphrased things I’ve seen on my newsfeed this morning.
So here’s the thing, LGBTQ community, as
far as equality for non-white people in this community, you need to step it up. Like big
time, and what sucks about that big time is that it has to be said.
Shortly after the Orlando massacre, I cannot tell you how many white LGBT
people took to the Internet to condemn Muslims and “their way of life”
Meanwhile, as usual, Muslim groups went into hyper drive to prove they’re not
evil and showed solidarity in so many gracious acts despite the vile things
being thrown their way.
People of colour are regularly erased from
LGBTQ spaces. It’s happened with this protest! all people see is black people
protesting, but has it occurred to them that they may be LGBTQ black people?
And they may have some grievances inside the community? Is that allowed? I mean, it would be hilarious illustration of POC erasure in the community if it weren't so sad.
See, if you are part of a community and pride yourself as being inclusive, that means you’re going to have to include people of colour more regularly. You have to examine boards of directors and supervisors and ask yourself, why they are largely white in a city where people of colour are the majority. You’re going to have to answer tough questions about why you think the established way is the best way. You’re going to be asked to examine your alliances with groups long criticized for being racist. And much to Pride Toronto’s credit, they were asked and they answered.
There is this thing called
intersectionality, it’s a wild concept, it outlines the possibility that even
if you are from a marginalized community, you still may have power, and you may be marginalizing other communities. Many people are shocked to hear
this, many people push back against the idea, but it happens, regularly! You
have a white gay male and a black straight male punch a police officer, guess
which one is more likely to be seriously hurt? You have a male straight south
Asian dude and a white lesbian women competing for a job, guess who is more
likely to get paid roughly 25% less, but then that dude may have a harder time getting his foot in the door because the name on his resume may be "too ethnic". You can be a minority and still benefit
from a system in place that marginalizes people based on race, gender, class,
religion, ethnicity, immigration status and so many more AND sexual
orientation.
Repeat after me, because you are a marginalized group, you
do not get a free pass in marginalizing others and still be considered inclusive.
I’m sorry your parade was marred by people wanting equal rights within the community, what a terrible thing to do! Sorry that this interruption for equality disturbs you so much, (in a parade for equality). I get it, we can only march for certain people’s equality and not look within our own borders.