DIVISIONS WITHIN LGBT COMMUNITIES
Despite the politicians' relative silence, much of the rhetoric
vilifying LGBT people comes mostly from religious leaders.
As with other social movements
there is also conflict within and between LGBT movements, especially about
strategies for change and debates over exactly who comprises the constituency
that these movements represent.

LGBT movements have often adopted a kind of identity politics that sees gay, bisexual and/or transgender people as a fixed class of people; a minority group or groups. Those using this approach aspire to liberal political goals of freedom and equal opportunity, and aim to join the political mainstream on the same level as other groups in society.
Arguing that sexual orientation and gender identity are innate and cannot be consciously changed, attempts to
change gay, lesbian and bisexual people into heterosexuals ("conversion therapy") are generally opposed by the LGBT community. Such
attempts are often based in religious beliefs that perceive gay, lesbian and bisexual activity as
immoral.
However, others within LGBT
movements have criticised identity politics as limited and flawed, elements of
the queer movement have argued that the categories of gay and
lesbian are restrictive, and attempted to deconstruct those categories, which are seen to "reinforce rather
than challenge a cultural system that will always mark the nonheterosexual as
inferior.

No comments:
Post a Comment