Let's Make 2017 A Year About Fighting Homonormativity

Homonormativity is one of the primary reasons that the queer community is unable to form a cohesive, organized movement for equality, and by extension, a movement to stand against the queer antagonistic Neo-Nazis who are more emboldened and empowered than ever. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, or who don't hear it outside of academic texts, homonormativity is the act of enforcing heteronormative-like standards on the queer community--the standards that say a girl is supposed to be skinny, feminine, and be attracted to men, for example--and shaming those who don't conform to said standards.

In simpler terms, homonormative powers want queer people to act like what straight people are expected to be. Homonormativity basically says, "Well... I get that you're a boy who likes men, but we'll forgive you for that as long as you're masculine, muscular, and like 'boy things,' among a list of other things." It also says things like, "No blacks, no fats, and no femmes." Homonormativity can be found everywhere: on Grindr, in the clubs, through media coverage, and in the comment section of any article I've written on this topic.

The people in positions of power in our community--white male gays, let's just be honest--often do not lead with intersectionality in mind, which leads to the further perpetuation of homonormativity. The most marginalized in our community speak up, and they're put down by others in the community, pitting us against one another when we have a country full of hateful, violent, oppressive enemies. This isn't something that I'm making up. Look at the leadership board of national queer non-profits. How many current trans leaders can you name off the top of your head who aren't Laverne Cox or Janet Mock? How many bisexual leaders? Lesbians? Gender non-conforming people? The numbers just aren't there.

Without diverse leadership and representation, our movement will miss the bigger picture and leave people out as it has before and continues to do. This and attacking people for speaking up for themselves--not talking about things like homonormativity--are what divide our community. In an ideal world, white gay men, trans women of color, and differently-abled bisexual people would all be able to share safe spaces. But until we reach that point, we remain divided, whether people want to admit it or not. This makes us easier to attack and oppress. Though, arguably, in theory, with someone like Mike Pence in the White House, hurting us shouldn't be too hard.

In 2017, what we do and how we do it, will matter more than ever before. Pence has made his career out of creating and passing anti-queer legislation and stripping us of our most basic rights. We are strongest together, but we can only come together if people stop taking homonormative discussions so personally. Maybe you personally have never felt victimized by homonormativity, but that doesn't mean it's fake. One reality is not the reality of everyone else on the planet.

The battle for queer equality is far from over. Marriage equality is not the end-all be-all of the movement. The battle won't be over until queer people of all colors, shapes, sizes, abilities, faith, class, education level, and genders are safe from identity-based violence and oppression. 2017 is a new year. We don't have to take homonormativity with us. Please leave it behind. You owe it your compassion, your humanity, and everyone else's.