What can we learn from LSBTIQ* campaigns?

[thelawnet]

there was a survey recently where people were asked if they would think more or less favourably of a company if they financially supported a Pride march, or if they put a gay flag on their Facebook or whatever.

For the youngest generation the answer was that far more would think more favourably for a company which made such statements than would think less favourably.

The inevitable result of such surveys is that companies will spend large amounts of money supporting such causes, because it is very obviously profitable to do so.

Not coincidentally I think, a very high proportion of young people identify as bisexual, when compared to older generations, as there is lots of money saying that is great and glamorous to be LGBT, whereas perhaps in the past it was portrayed as undesirable.

There seems to be a general trend to try to identify oneself as 'special', as in a member of a minority group. This is true even if one is in fact very highly privileged, such as in this case, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-46950952 where the supposed 'African', lives in a posh part of Kent, goes to a posh school, has affluent parents and is at best 25% African.

The goal in general is to portray oneself as the victim of oppression. While this is certainly true of many people in the world, those leveraging their 'oppressed' status are often not the ones who are in fact oppressed.

For example, the average CTC member who may own a house, have several nice bikes, and an above average income, while perhaps the target of abuse as a cyclist, is still not in reality in any way oppressed. However it is generally sufficient to persuade others that you are in fact a victim of oppression - whether or not that is the truth is really besides the point. Successfully selling this story is the trick? Not sure how well it will go when you have MAMIL on carbon fibre bikes though?

[Cyril Haearn]

The average/typical CTC member is certainly oppressed, threatened, bullied while cycling
..
The Grauniad might be the paper LGBTx people like to read
'Blind date' on Saturdays is one of my favourites, many of the dates are mm or ff, apparently not so many heterosexual* people apply
*Is the word 'straight' allowed now?

[Bmblbzzz]

Weakness is the word.

[deeferdonk]

"What can we learn from LGBTx campaigns?"

What can we learn ? How minorities can force their political agenda on the majority using fear and threats as a weapon.
How a tiny, unrepresentative percent of the population, less than 1% can use the law to threaten the other 99% and be supported by those who fear standing up for the majority.
Rotherham Syndrome .. all over again ...

What can we learn ? ..... to find our own way ... this is one bandwagon we should be happy we have missed ....

I think i can be classed as a member of the majority, but don't appear to be living in fear of anything.
I know it is illegal to commit a hate crime or to discriminate against anyone in certain situations on grounds of sexuality. But i don't want to do either of those things.
I can't think of anything else relevant, am i missing something?

[mattheus]

What can we learn from successes of the gay rights lobby?

The discussion around RLJing led me back to this thread:

I wonder; did the gay community start showing more respect to the straights? Did they stop breaking laws so as reduce irritation to heteros? Did they show more courtesy to non-gays? Did they desist from provocative behavoiur on the street?

is that how the gay rights movement has been successful?

[Cyril Haearn]

LSBTIQ* is the term this year, I just corrected the thread title

[Cunobelin]

LSBTIQ* is the term this year, I just corrected the thread title

Which is actually the German translation of LGBTIQ+, so nothing new there, The UK is maintaining the current term of LGBTIQ+

A bit like LHBTIQ+ which is Norwegian

[Cyril Haearn]

How many members of the BoJo regime are LG etc?

[Audax67]

I like the crack about Mother's Pride being rechristened Mother's Bride, but I've learned from LBGWTF campaigns that I really! Shouldn't!

[Cunobelin]

How many members of the BoJo regime are LG etc?

Why?

It is really an irrelevance... With the extreme Right Wing flavour, it is just one of many issues. The real problems such as the continuing alignment to the US on immigration, abortion, the removal of the ability of the NHS to constrain drug prices, dropping of food standards, and a whole range of other issues are above any single group

[Audax67]

How many members of the BoJo regime are LG etc?

I used to have an LG television...

[Cunobelin]

How many members of the BoJo regime are LG etc?

I used to have an LG television...

If it has an HomeHub router with Openreach it would it be an LG BT

..and if you had a dodgy uncertain connection, it would be LGBTIQ (LG British Telecom is questionable)

[recumbentpanda]

To return boringly to the original question, I would point out that the key elements of the kind of political approach to campaigning for change that the LGBTQ movement has used, are not unique to that group. The Disability Rights Movement, and Feminism have both used similar strategies. The origin of these ideas seems to be the USA’s Civil Rights Movement.

Apart from the obvious one of coming together around the basic demand for equal respect, the key tools for the job seem to be:

A focus on language and how it is used

Coming together in events that raise public awareness

Building members own ‘consciousness’ of what the issue is and how it affects them

‘The personal is political’ -eg, your experiences as an individual matter, and should not just be taken for granted because ‘it happens a lot’, or ‘thats Just the way things are’.

In the end, the goal is not to ‘claim victim status’, but to demand that respect from others, the lack of which leads to victimisation.

Just my pennorth as an old revolutionary subversive armchair liberal pantywaisted capitalist running dog . . .

[reohn2]

How many members of the BoJo regime are LG etc?

I'd rather some of them to have a heart bigger than a chicken's than be GAY or Trans

[Cyril Haearn]

How many members of the BoJo regime are LG etc?

I used to have an LG television...

You know what that stands for in German
..
Leider geil