pondering queerness and activism (like every other day)

[paisleycat]

So, lately queerness has come up a lot in the media and in my experience of social media. Coming Out day was recently and lots of my friends were very gung ho about coming out... as allies. At first, I felt really proud and happy. I am glad to have so many allies and that they are proud. But eventually when I saw about 4 times as many allies and

Comments

[marchenland]

Your comment really made me think, about risk and repercussions to "allies." I don't disagree with you, but I think there are allies out there who do gladly accept the repercussions, which may be small or large, depending on many factors.

I live in Salt Lake City, and we of course have to have a lot of rallies.

Since I'm in what looks like a heteronormative relationship, I don't have much to worry about most of the time. Getting your picture taken, or being filmed, marching at a rally for queer rights or demonstrating at a trial takes a little of that away. My BF and I provide the sound system for many rallies, so we're all over the media, b/c we're on the "stage" area, tending to the system, handing off microphones, keeping the cords out of the way, etc. MANY co-workers tell me, "I saw you on the news," after these things. If they ask why I support these rallies, I DO talk about the issues you mention - hospitals and DADT and so on. My bedroom antics aren't really something I like to discuss, but I will talk political realities all day long.

We had a rally a while back, and one of our derby refs -- who is hetero and has kids and is in the military -- came and brought his 10-year old daughter. She was the one who asked him to come, and he was glad to be there. As we marched around the LDS temple, he and his daughter and my BF posed for a photo. Several people snapped the shot, and someone walking past said, "Awww, she's so proud of her daddies," or something like that. Both guys just grinned more broadly. The ref could lose a lot by being there, by having that photo taken and posted on the web. It's tiny compared to the daily risk that openly gay people deal with, but it made me think about the risk he was willing to take. He could lose his commission, even his children, if someone wanted to make that happen. (My BF, by contrast, has little to lose, and spent the whole night randomly kissing men.)

I think a lot of people DO fall into what you're describing -- not putting themselves on the lines in any real sense. I hate the "activist" FB status updates for that reason -- I am not a fan of "easy" actions.