When L+G+B+T+Q = G+(MtF)T…,

Andrea at Official Shrub.com Blog wrote about
Feminist Infighting yesterday. And I totally agree. I was at this movie showing in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan the other day. The movie was Follow My Voice With The Music Of Hedwig, which I had seen it with my mom the previous night on DVD that my friend M had let me borrow. M was one of the people who spoke at the after-movie session where a university/highschool teacher, a homosexual male student, a spokesperson from Amnesty International, a university professor, and M were asked to talk about LGBTQ activism they were involved with.

There was some basic stance that most of the participants held in common, which is, LGBTQ issues are not issues in LGBTQ but issues in society, and thus, straights; therefore, straight people in LGBTQ activism should keep it down when talking politics, listening to LGBTQ people rather than giving them lectures on what they (LGBTQ people) can do to change society. While I totally agree and understand that society as a whole is responsible for social issues, even ones that seem trivial and specific to a single group of people, but I find it very problematic for them to link “society” and “straights” in such a naïve, casual manner.

I raised my hand in the Question-Asking session (I hate to call it Question-and-Answer because most of the time questions are not answered), saying, “M and I are friends and we talk about issues including LGBTQ issues and feminist issues and related issues. But as a person registered as a male, person with no female identity, and with male privileges, I wonder, is it me or M that needs to hold back and listen to the other person? Just because I am sexual minority doesn’t mean M is more powerful in every respect, and just because M is female doesn’t mean I am more powerful in every respect. As activists or people who want to make change, isn’t it important for all of us not to forget what we are doing, consciously or subconsciously, for the sake of oppression, rather than just blame everything on straights (called “society”)?”

M responded quite quickly, saying she was in harmony with what I had said. The university professor was smiling. I didn’t pay attention to the Amnesty person. The university/highschool lecturer seemed pretty content with what he thought I was getting at through half way, but when I finished what I had to say he was giving me a very gloomy look. He was the one that had emphasized the most the idea that society’s problem = straights problem.

I totally understand the sentiment that is sometimes even needed in activism where solidarity and a sense of unity are important factors in both supporting LGBTQ individuals emotionally and expanding/advancing their social actions to make change. But When L + G + B + T + Q equals G + (MtF)T only, that’s not fucking solidarity. It’s called silencing.

[edit]
On the face, it might seem a little bit like Andrea and I are saying completely different things, but I think our basic ideas are similar.