Post #100793
July 18, 2017, 04:18:04 PM
I'm going to be visiting Philly's Gayborhood for the first time ever within the next few days, so... *tosses in two cents*
On the one hand, I agree with the sentiment behind the changes to the flag. However, changing the flag is not the way to go about it, and I worry that in the end, it will do more harm than help.
I think the responses in this thread are actually a pretty good example of how the change is leading to a dismissal of the issues PoC face within the gay community rather than generating discussion or a closer examination of the ways in which gay PoC are marginalized by other gay people, particularly white gay community members.
While I don't identify as gay myself, I have a lot of friends who do who are also PoC, and I see and hear about how their concerns and means of self-expression are constantly dismissed on sexist and racist grounds all the time. One example that sticks in my mind comes from one of my black lesbian friends who explained to me that because black women have historically been stereotyped and portrayed as being loud, strong, and masculine, that being openly femme was incredibly subversive, and yet other lesbians, particularly white lesbians who proudly identified as being feminist, would attack femme black lesbians for reinforcing gender stereotypes and harass them for not being "true" lesbians. We're talking wishing death levels of harassment, among other things.
That's not even getting into how people tie attractiveness to skin color or race, or how sexual availability, performance, or submissiveness is assumed based on one's perceived race. The latter is something I personally run into all the time, and something I have had to physically defend myself from on more than one occasion because of.
Racism is unfortunately alive and well within the gay community, and very few non-PoC are willing to acknowledge it exists, much less work to address it. So, while it's great that there are people in Philly who are willing to do the latter, I worry that simply changing the flag (and leaving out Asians in the process--which btw is the predominant form racism against Asians takes) won't do much except breed resentment, much as how similar measures taken in the past have only bred more resentment towards PoC.