Assimilationist policies gay liberation movement

Your email address will not be published. A sentiment that you would normally expect from a conservative. An increasingly powerful section of the queer movement argues that to achieve better results we need to present queer people as members of society who are no different from anyone else.

That course ended in a powerful era of self–discovery: the launch of the Gay Liberation Movement, which adopted a more clear celebration of difference and a more open and confrontational response to oppression and discrimination than had ever risen to the forefront for most LGBT Americans.

Whilst in this scenario some are better off, this tactic sells out not only those who will continue to be excluded, but the queer movement and its principles as a whole. A generation younger than most of the members of homophile organizations like SIR or the Mattachine Society, the gay liberationists saw their cause as an extension of the civil rights struggle and Black power, the antiwar movement, second wave feminism, and Marxism.

This is where this tactic has become extremely dangerous. Assimilation is not the answer to queer liberation. The thoroughly revised second edition includes updated discussion of LGBT movements' undertakings in, as well the Obama administration's response to, AIDS/HIV policy, the fight to legalize same-sex marriage and overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, and the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. The problem? Many, especially those in the leadership positions, are now beginning to use the idea of normalcy as a way to try to squash fears of the more dramatic changes that are the aim of many in the queer movement.

Facebook Twitter Instagram Email Articles. Previous Previous post: Obama scared of taking action on queer rights. These tactics are considered especially useful in debates regarding legislative change, such as same-sex marriage or adoption laws. By adopting a tactic of presenting normalcy the queer movement is moving away from having a position that is critical of the heterodoxy in to one that not only accepts, but for many embraces it as an inevitable part of society.

This is creating a scenario where instead of its deconstruction, assimilation into the heteronormative society is becoming the goal of the queer movement. We must aim to change our society. Assimilationist tactics of mainstream homophile groups came under scrutiny at the time of the police raids on the Stonewall Inn in New York City’s Greenwich Village on June 28, , and the ensuing resistance, often referred to as the Stonewall Rebellion or Stonewall Riots.

However, it also goes far beyond that. This may be shocking, but in reality this statement is not surprising; its a symptom of the direction many in the queer movement are taking. All this tactic does is let a few more people in the hetero-club generally those who come closest to fitting the hetero-mould, i.