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What is the relevance of an LGBT Society??
In the past I have had friends, boyfriends, and people I don’t know ask me “Why are you involved with the LGBT? I don’t see the point of it. Why shouldn’t there be a straight society?” Usually I have said nothing, or agreed and said that if they want such a society, they should form one for themselves. It was only after a leave of absence from Trinity’s LGBT society that I realised why we have and need such a society. The people who have said these things to me are from every part of the LGBT spectrum, and I don’t believe that what they are saying is homophobic, but that it is purely down to a lack of understanding.
The reason we don’t have a “straight society” (yet) seems blatantly obvious to me; society itself is straight (and water is wet, I know, nothing too groundbreaking there). People say that LGBT societies spend their time getting drunk and having a laugh, and that they are not real societies at all, sine they do nothing of any real worth (just try justify Ógra Fíanna Fail to me if that’s the case). I completely refute such a statement, because for one thing, a lot of people spend their time getting drunk and having a laugh, but they don’t usually have to worry about being attacked by someone for showing affection to someone of the same sex. The LGBT society in Trinity, like those in all other colleges everywhere, is a safe place where people can discuss their everyday lives, and not worry about mentioning things which might lead to an uncomfortable situation in what would be termed an “oppressively straight” situation. This is the most visible side of what such societies do.
LGBT Societies are meant to be socially orientated, it’s in the name, but I also would like that people would remember that they are essentially the public face of a movement, which has its modern beginnings as far back as 1898 with the work of German (more accurately, Weimar) campaigner, Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld. I don’t wish for this to turn into a history lesson, but not many people seem to be fully aware of the work done by people such as Hirschfeld, and following him, the LGBT people who were involved in the Stonewall Riots in New York in the 60s, modern day campaigners such as Peter Tatchell, and in a distinctly more Irish way, the work of Trinity Senator David Norris in getting homosexuality decriminalised in Ireland back in the early 90s. But the work of Irish activists such as Senator Norris and Izzy Kamikaze seems to be overlooked and largely ignored. Now I am not looking for a shrine to be built to them, or others, but for people to realise that what they achieved was only the beginning of what should have been a huge push for social change by the Irish LGBT community. It may appear grandiose to mention such illustrious people in the same breath as LGBT societies, who’s day to day activities are infinitely more banal, but this banality and ordinariness is something which has been earned by their hard work, tears, and immense personal suffering. It is just another rung in the ladder.
Activism is increasingly being marginalized by the “Gay Community” (I call it that for want of a better word, and for reasons of clarity, not because I believe anything exists that can accurately be called such), and I find it hard to understand. More and more people are calling for ‘integration’ and ‘equality’, but their understanding of these concepts seem either flawed or wrong to me. I, for one, do not want to be ‘integrated’ into anything, where I will just be paid lip-service in the hope that I will not cause any trouble and be thankful for what I have been given. I do not want to be part of anything that can be called ‘straight society’, or more accurately ‘white-middle class-able bodied-heterosexual-male society’. I want society to change to the needs of everyone, where everyone has their own space, is respected and is listened to. I just want society, with out any prefix. With the way things are at present that is not going to happen unless someone decides to get up, and take it.
For those who still don’t believe in the need for places such as LGBT societies, and who do not see the point of LGBT activism, then I ask do you think it's right that same sex couples not allowed to have their relationships officially recognised, or that same sex couples are not allowed to adopt, and why is it that the suicide rate for young lesbians or bisexual women twice as high as that of straight women and why is the suicide rate of gay or bisexual men three times as high as their straight counterparts, why do young LGBT teens live in fear of being exposed to their school, friends, and why is it that so many still suffer the indignity of living their lives in the closet? These do not sound like very liberated people to me, and to say in light of the above that there is no need for an LGBT campaign is obtuse.
We all know it is so much easier to bitch and snipe about things when we feel we have little control over a situation, or if we are too lazy to bother to try to change that situation, but to complain achieves nothing. I’m not going to kid myself and expect everyone to make donations to Outhouse, or to help with the events of LGBT societies (although both would help), but don’t try discourage those that do. The people who dedicate their time to LGBT societies, and organisations such as the Gay Men’s Health Project and Outhouse are trying to help people’s lives in a very real way. Until we can all feel comfortable holding hands or kissing the person we love in public, until young LGBT teens don’t feel fear about telling their parents about their sexual preference, and until we in the LGBT community take the civil and constitutional rights which should be ours, only then may we begin to question the validity of the LGBT rights movement. Until then, whenever you catch yourself or others about to make fun of ‘activists’ or ‘gay-rights people’, consider for a moment just how rocky the road is for LGBT people, and how activists (be they senators or your average LGBT society committee member) are smoothing the path for those who are to follow us, for there always will be more of our kind, and long may it be so.
Note: © Nasa Gibson, 4 June 2003.
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