Loading ...
Forty years after the Stonewall riots, our community has broadened, acronyms and definitions expanding to include other identities beyond the heteronorm. Although great leaps have been made, it feels to me that there is an ever-lengthening list of things yet to be accomplished.
It makes sense that in a community as broad as ours the range of goals would be diverse, and so they should be. Inclusivity depends on lending the strength of the whole to further the lot of its smaller components.
It is not enough to absorb new identities -” we must embrace their battles as our own, and struggle in concert for the rights of all. Although the challenges that face us now are not as massive, they are no less real, and no less demanding of a strong and organised response.
Instead of forming a cohesive whole, we are scattered, multiple factions with multiple goals, all gathered under one roof defined increasingly by the mainstream that lies beyond it as opposed to those who dwell beneath. We lose strength. The potential for a united front is misplaced among a multitude of small and indistinct voices, plugging messages that are at best disparate, at worst contradictory, instead of working across identities to find a way forward for us all.
The most successful campaigns become not those that are most progressive, but those most easily allied with heteronormative ideals, those most palatable to mainstream society. In allowing ourselves to be defined by others we rob the GLBTIQ community -” in all its many colours -” of its autonomy and identity.
Our actions are often reduced to combating symptoms rather than causes. A marriage certificate will not halt verbal abuse and combined superannuation is of little use if your workplace is riddled with homophobia. Although we have laws that nominally protect our liberties, they lose power when faced with the prejudice of those hired to enforce them. The battle for equality has never been the sole province of Parliament. It is changing the culture of Australia -” and the world -” that will ultimately result in true freedom for the LGBTIQ community.
For those who participated in and contributed to ‘69 Was A Riot, Stonewall: The Activists Forum, and the events that inspired it all -” thank you.
Hayley Conway is the convenor of the Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby.
Tags: Stonewall riots, Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby
