With recent events such as the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, FL and continued national police brutality, there has been a lot of talk as to whether gay individuals have it harder than people of color—specifically black individuals—in America. There were people who went so far as to compare the two civil rights movements during the struggle to legalize equal marriage access. The idea that one group is more oppressed or that "the gay movement is the new black civil rights movement" is incorrect and highly insulting. The struggles of all minority groups are interconnected.
When we try to compare struggles of one group to another, all we do is discount the experience and struggles of both groups. The best way to describe this is the oppression Olympics. This is the act of comparing the struggles of one group to another in order to see which group is more oppressed or has it worse.
Now, the comparison between the gay civil rights movement and the black civil rights movement is incorrect on so many fronts. To say that the gay rights movement is the new black rights movement is to say that the movement for black Americans to get their rights is over. Racism, institutional racism, discrimination, police brutality, lack of safety and high incarceration rates are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to issues still faced by their community. While there are a lot of issues shared between the two, that does not give us the right to compare and contrast.
The second problem with this idea is that the gay civil rights movement was created by people of color. Even within the gay community, violence disproportionately affects black individuals. 2015 was the deadliest year on record for trans women of color. Black trans women do not experience racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia separately. I, as a white individual, can not speak to what this feels like. Huffington Post published a great article from a black trans advocate that explains what it feels like to be the victim of anti-black racism.
History and popular media have a habit of straight- and white-washing everything. The Stonewall Inn riots (believed to be the birth of the gay rights movement) were not led by a tiny white twink like the movie would have you believe. The real pioneers of Stonewall were trans women of color. Lucy Hicks Anderson, Carlett Brown Angianlee, Sir Lady Java, Miss Major and perhaps the most well known, Marsha P. Johnson. Martha co-founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) with a fellow trans woman of color, Silvia Rivera.
I refuse to be a part of the problem. I will never condone the comparison of oppression but rather help identify the causes and destroy them. I will not look into the eyes of my black friends and siblings and try to convince them that somehow I have it worse than they do. So to other LGBTQ+ people, I ask that you do the same. Even if one group does have it worse who are we to brag after both being a century-long punching bag for a system we never signed up for. We have been beaten senseless by a system that was not designed for us.
Click here to read more about African American leaders to helped to shape the LGBTQ+ community.
