This week I’m doing a series of posts about privilege. By privilege, I mean the rights I enjoy as being part of a dominant group subject to certain attributes. Because of my privileges I have rarely if ever suffered oppression or discrimination, because my group has the power to subjugate others. For information on how discrimination against me differs from that against marginalised people, I suggest my post ‘Not Reverse Discrimination’. “Sexual expression is designed for the marital relationship,” says one of Focus on the Family’s many anti-gay websites, “and homosexual behaviour is one of many sexual sins that is outside God’s created intent and desire for us.” Religious dogma is a huge source of homophobia. This idea of ‘God’s created intent’, which links in with the general perception that homosexuality is ‘weird’ and cannot yield children. This quote from my Spirit Day post highlights one way in which heterosexuality is normalised in Western culture. Not only is it the commonly excepted ‘deafult’ for sexuality. It is the sexuality endorsed by God himself, in every religious text and in every religious tradition marriage is seen as between a man and a woman. Relationships are seen as between a man and a woman. Homosexuality can be openly described as a ‘sexual sin’ by Focus on the Family, a supposedly mainstream Christian organisation, without fear of prosecution for hate crime. Because it’s all about ‘beliefs’. In 550 BCE, the first Abrahamic laws against sex between men were passed, and the punishment was the death penalty. Such laws continued to be spread up to and including the Middle Ages. The Buggery Act was instated in England in 1534 CE, which made sodomy and bestiality punishable by death. This remained law until 1861, though the persecution of homosexuals has continued. They were one of the groups targeted in the Nazi holocaust. In my commentary on this photo submitted by lordmayorscroupier, I talked about how gendered media is intrinsically hetero-normative. The picture depicts a cover of ‘More’ magazine, with a tagline that reads: “fashion and men… what else is there!” Aside from reducing women to such trivial interests with scant regard for the big issues our world faces (as I covered in the post), it is reducing women to an interest in men. Are all women interested in men? No. Are all women interested in fashion? No. Here we see gender stereotypes contributing further to a normalisation of heterosexuality as a gendered pursuit, while homosexuals are relegated to their own limited media, separate from that made for ‘men’ or ‘women’. And it’s not just homosexuals that are discriminated against. Bisexuals have often had their legitimacy questioned not only by society but by the LGBT movement itself, as I covered in my post on the topic. As a straight person, I can read and watch media that is always designed for me. Women are seen as a key interest of men, and men a key interest of women. My sexuality is not a gimmick creating the basis for a TV character’s entire personality. I never struggled to identify with my sexuality. I was never told my sexuality was a sin. I was never bullied in school for it, I do not face discrimination at work for it. I can (and do) give blood. I am unlikely to become the victim of a hate crime for being heterosexual, while every year persons of different sexualities are killed and driven to suicide. I do not carry with me the history of thousands beaten, tortured, degraded, persecuted and killed for their sexuality. I do not experience systematic abuse on a daily basis. I will not be the victim of hate crimes similar to that experienced by maniahum (and worse). I am not reduced to an ‘other’, a gimmick, a freak to be interrogated rather than a human being. I recognise my straight privilege and seek to reduce its impact on others. Gary McLachlan wrote via disqus: Slight correction on the law: The 1535 Act was actually incorporated into the Offences Against the Person Act of 1824. 1861 was just a re-codification of that Act and the offence of buggery stayed on the statute books through the 1956 Sexual Offences Act until reduced (for those over 21 in private) by the 1967 Act and then removed as an offence (except against animals) in 2003. :) Sorry to be geeky about the law, but I covered that area deeply in legal history. Haha, the geekier the better. Thanks for the addition and clarification :) TOMORROW: White privilege. Click to see Privilege Week posts so far! Recommend The Lighthouse! NEW! Click for The Lighthouse book!
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This week I’m doing a series of posts about privilege. By privilege, I mean the rights I enjoy as being part of a dominant group subject to certain attributes. Because of my privileges I have rarely if ever suffered oppression or discrimination, because my group has the power to subjugate others. For information on how discrimination against me differs from that against marginalised people, I suggest my post ‘Not Reverse Discrimination’.

“Sexual expression is designed for the marital relationship,” says one of Focus on the Family’s many anti-gay websites, “and homosexual behaviour is one of many sexual sins that is outside God’s created intent and desire for us.” Religious dogma is a huge source of homophobia. This idea of ‘God’s created intent’, which links in with the general perception that homosexuality is ‘weird’ and cannot yield children.

This quote from my Spirit Day post highlights one way in which heterosexuality is normalised in Western culture. Not only is it the commonly excepted ‘deafult’ for sexuality. It is the sexuality endorsed by God himself, in every religious text and in every religious tradition marriage is seen as between a man and a woman. Relationships are seen as between a man and a woman. Homosexuality can be openly described as a ‘sexual sin’ by Focus on the Family, a supposedly mainstream Christian organisation, without fear of prosecution for hate crime.

Because it’s all about ‘beliefs’.

In 550 BCE, the first Abrahamic laws against sex between men were passed, and the punishment was the death penalty. Such laws continued to be spread up to and including the Middle Ages. The Buggery Act was instated in England in 1534 CE, which made sodomy and bestiality punishable by death. This remained law until 1861, though the persecution of homosexuals has continued.

They were one of the groups targeted in the Nazi holocaust.

In my commentary on this photo submitted by lordmayorscroupier, I talked about how gendered media is intrinsically hetero-normative. The picture depicts a cover of ‘More’ magazine, with a tagline that reads: “fashion and men… what else is there!” Aside from reducing women to such trivial interests with scant regard for the big issues our world faces (as I covered in the post), it is reducing women to an interest in men. Are all women interested in men? No. Are all women interested in fashion? No.

Here we see gender stereotypes contributing further to a normalisation of heterosexuality as a gendered pursuit, while homosexuals are relegated to their own limited media, separate from that made for ‘men’ or ‘women’.

And it’s not just homosexuals that are discriminated against. Bisexuals have often had their legitimacy questioned not only by society but by the LGBT movement itself, as I covered in my post on the topic.

As a straight person, I can read and watch media that is always designed for me. Women are seen as a key interest of men, and men a key interest of women. My sexuality is not a gimmick creating the basis for a TV character’s entire personality. I never struggled to identify with my sexuality. I was never told my sexuality was a sin. I was never bullied in school for it, I do not face discrimination at work for it. I can (and do) give blood. I am unlikely to become the victim of a hate crime for being heterosexual, while every year persons of different sexualities are killed and driven to suicide.

I do not carry with me the history of thousands beaten, tortured, degraded, persecuted and killed for their sexuality.

I do not experience systematic abuse on a daily basis.

I will not be the victim of hate crimes similar to that experienced by maniahum (and worse).

I am not reduced to an ‘other’, a gimmick, a freak to be interrogated rather than a human being.

I recognise my straight privilege and seek to reduce its impact on others.

Gary McLachlan wrote via disqus:

Slight correction on the law: The 1535 Act was actually incorporated into the Offences Against the Person Act of 1824. 1861 was just a re-codification of that Act and the offence of buggery stayed on the statute books through the 1956 Sexual Offences Act until reduced (for those over 21 in private) by the 1967 Act and then removed as an offence (except against animals) in 2003. :) Sorry to be geeky about the law, but I covered that area deeply in legal history.

Haha, the geekier the better. Thanks for the addition and clarification :)

TOMORROW: White privilege.

Click to see Privilege Week posts so far!

Recommend The Lighthouse! NEW! Click for The Lighthouse book!

Tumblr, you disappoint me. This was queued to be posted yesterday while I was busy. Its relevance is now reduced due to it no longer being spirit day. But hey, use this as a reminder not to forget what this day was for. ____________________ Despite various angry Tumblr boycotts, I wore purple today. Not because I’m a slave to pointless commemorations, nor because I think it will solve homophobia overnight. Not because I disregard other forms of bullying, nor because I think other discriminations are irrelevant. But because we are in the midst of a teen suicide epidemic. As I said in my comments on this great video: It needs to be put across that it is acceptable to be different, it is an acceptable gender behaviour to be ‘camp’ or ‘butch’ or diverge from the binary in any way. Seeming to be gay is not a crime. Being gay is not a crime. Being different is not a crime. The perpetrators of this abuse ARE CHILDREN, and children learn from the world around them. When they perceive sexualities different from their own to be punishable, alien and abominable, they take action to marginalise those children that are gay or otherwise divergent from heterosexuality. It is worth repeating a point made in the video: some of these kids were just different. Some had not yet come out, some were NOT even gay. But they all bear the weight of hatred, the weight of every tribal instinct to reject that which is different. One of the most important things to realise is that homophobia starts at a very young age and spreads unchecked through peer groups in the education system. While Christian groups campaign to reduce the level of education on gay issues, children are growing up without understanding the value of diversity and the value of accepting all sexualities. “Sexual expression is designed for the marital relationship,” says one of Focus on the Family’s many anti-gay websites, “and homosexual behavior is one of many sexual sins that is outside God’s created intent and desire for us.” Religious dogma is a huge source of homophobia. This idea of ‘God’s created intent’, which links in with the general perception that homosexuality is ‘weird’ and cannot yield children. Unfortunately for these criticisms, this is the 21st century. The modern age requires a much more logical interpretation of scripture and of our heteronormative culture. It should be pointed out that I have nothing against religion itself, only the interpretation of religion for the purposes of ignorance and discrimination. There is no doubt that misinterpretation of scripture is responsible for a lot of opposition to gay rights. After years of struggling with his identity, a guy at my school finally came out. Other former students were shocked, and said they had never come across a gay person in their lives. They proceeded to ask him a number of intensely personal questions about what he had done with guys, and how he could possibly be attracted to to them. He said these conversations happen all the time. This isn’t to highlight the danger of homophobic abuse, these are well documented with the list of teen suicides here. This is to highlight the need for education. These former students were all males who hadn’t left school with many qualifications, and rather than reacting with violence, they reacted wth curiosity and intrigue. Why? Because they have not been educated about different sexualities and how they are all worthy of acceptance rather than discrimination. This is a call for better education on LGBTQ issues. Fuck the religious nuts who believe homosexuality is a choice. No one would choose abuse, no one would choose depression, no one would choose suicide. It is of vital importance to teach the next generation to accept everyone for all their differences. Homosexuality is not the enemy. The enemies are the mechanisms that cause us to abuse those that are different. Let’s start on those.
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Tumblr, you disappoint me. This was queued to be posted yesterday while I was busy. Its relevance is now reduced due to it no longer being spirit day. But hey, use this as a reminder not to forget what this day was for.

____________________

Despite various angry Tumblr boycotts, I wore purple today. Not because I’m a slave to pointless commemorations, nor because I think it will solve homophobia overnight. Not because I disregard other forms of bullying, nor because I think other discriminations are irrelevant.

But because we are in the midst of a teen suicide epidemic.

As I said in my comments on this great video:

It needs to be put across that it is acceptable to be different, it is an acceptable gender behaviour to be ‘camp’ or ‘butch’ or diverge from the binary in any way. Seeming to be gay is not a crime. Being gay is not a crime. Being different is not a crime.

The perpetrators of this abuse ARE CHILDREN, and children learn from the world around them. When they perceive sexualities different from their own to be punishable, alien and abominable, they take action to marginalise those children that are gay or otherwise divergent from heterosexuality.

It is worth repeating a point made in the video: some of these kids were just different. Some had not yet come out, some were NOT even gay. But they all bear the weight of hatred, the weight of every tribal instinct to reject that which is different.

One of the most important things to realise is that homophobia starts at a very young age and spreads unchecked through peer groups in the education system. While Christian groups campaign to reduce the level of education on gay issues, children are growing up without understanding the value of diversity and the value of accepting all sexualities.

“Sexual expression is designed for the marital relationship,” says one of Focus on the Family’s many anti-gay websites, “and homosexual behavior is one of many sexual sins that is outside God’s created intent and desire for us.” Religious dogma is a huge source of homophobia. This idea of ‘God’s created intent’, which links in with the general perception that homosexuality is ‘weird’ and cannot yield children.

Unfortunately for these criticisms, this is the 21st century. The modern age requires a much more logical interpretation of scripture and of our heteronormative culture. It should be pointed out that I have nothing against religion itself, only the interpretation of religion for the purposes of ignorance and discrimination. There is no doubt that misinterpretation of scripture is responsible for a lot of opposition to gay rights.

After years of struggling with his identity, a guy at my school finally came out. Other former students were shocked, and said they had never come across a gay person in their lives. They proceeded to ask him a number of intensely personal questions about what he had done with guys, and how he could possibly be attracted to to them.

He said these conversations happen all the time.

This isn’t to highlight the danger of homophobic abuse, these are well documented with the list of teen suicides here. This is to highlight the need for education. These former students were all males who hadn’t left school with many qualifications, and rather than reacting with violence, they reacted wth curiosity and intrigue. Why? Because they have not been educated about different sexualities and how they are all worthy of acceptance rather than discrimination.

This is a call for better education on LGBTQ issues.

Fuck the religious nuts who believe homosexuality is a choice.

No one would choose abuse, no one would choose depression, no one would choose suicide.

It is of vital importance to teach the next generation to accept everyone for all their differences. Homosexuality is not the enemy. The enemies are the mechanisms that cause us to abuse those that are different.

Let’s start on those.