I really enjoyed the discussion and guest speakers in class thursday! I feel I got to be a part of a very rare opportunity to hear first hand from people in the LBGTQ community. Most importantly hearing from two people from the black queer community. I truly appreciated the speakers opening up to the class about their personal experiences. A lot of the terms they presented were new to me such as F to M, pansexual, and the actual definition of what it means to be transgender. I also enjoyed learning about the different names that people may prefer to be called such as butch lesbian or dyke, etc. This piece of information opened my eyes to the diversity of the LBGTQ community and that people within the community are complex just as we are within our black community. This made me realize to a further extent how a person who is a part of the LBGTQ community can face several struggles identifying with not only the queer community but also the black community two very complex systems.
I know several people who are openly gay however I never had a conversation with any of them about the real life struggles or fears that they might have. The opportunity to hear from two different people highlighted the fact that each struggle in personal and independent varying from individual to individual. Depending on the many systems surrounding the individual (meso, exo,macro, etc.) the struggles vary and differ. Just as Kerry spoke about the many intersections that are faced (race, gender, sexuality.) these many intersections effect people in the black LBGTQ community because each group they identify with is the minority.
Strange Bedfellows discusses the relationship between African-American democrats and Republican Conservatives. I feel that this awkward and very puzzling union raises the bar for the issues that people within the LBQTQ community have specifically those who are also a part of the black community. 60% of African Americans disagree with the institution of marriage for gays (same-sex marriage). To make matters worse they are willing to come together with a group they normally oppose to enforce this opinion. I believe this highlights the idea that people of the queer community find it hard to identify within the black community at times because of the strong opposing opinions towards them within the community. As we saw in the video a "different kind of black man," they want the same things that other black men want. They long to fit into the community and as one man stated "lifting up any part of the black community lifts up the entire black community".
I definitely appreciated the sit down time too Ilyne. Had they bolt introduced some/clarified some of those terms, I don't think I would've ever known the difference. I loved the way the class and the speakers embraced each other. I understand the lack of progression that is entailed in our society, but there was progression that day, because I don't doubt that everyone in that room walked away with something.
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