Pride
by Joelle Ruby Ryan
There is a great diversity of gender expression within the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. I am always amazed at GLBT bars or events just how many different ways we can and do express our genders. Unfortunately, some in the community tend to accept and validate only certain forms of gender due to biases and ignorance.
Before Stonewall, there were many drag queens and stone butches who filled the gay bars. After Stonewall, there was a radical movement for queer liberation that sought to liberate sex and gender for all people. This movement soon switched to a minority model that sought civil rights for a discrete category of gay men and lesbians. The bar culture changed in the 1970s and the macho gay clone emerged. In lesbian feminism of that time, there was a critique of butch-femme roles in the dyke community. While many gay men eschewed drag and femininity, many lesbians criticized butch-femme for aping and replicating traditional heterosexual roles.
These unfortunate developments have repercussions that have lasted to the present day. There are still some gay men who reject “effeminate” gay males. It is not uncommon to read personal ads that seek so-called “straight-acting/straight-appearing” men only. This “sissyphobia” is a persistent and pervasive problem rooted in both homophobia and misogyny.
In the lesbian community there are some who may criticize those who act “too butch” or may over-value hyper-feminine lipstick lesbians. Some may expect someone to fall into a butch-femme role or think that a gender expression signals a particular sexual role or preference of “top” or “bottom.”
Further, the struggle of the transgender liberation movement to gain full acceptance in the gay community is really about gender. Some gay people may feel that gender traditional homosexuals are more worthy of receiving rights than gender-queer radicals or trannies. They feel that they will receive their rights quicker if they jettison the trans community, or they simply feel uncomfortable with people who flaunt conventional gender roles. This view is divisive and needs to be challenged and eradicated. There is enough room for all of us under the big queer banner, and our gender diversity adds so much vitality to our community.
There has traditionally been criticism of the way that drag queens get so much coverage in the gay pride parades. Or that the leather daddies or kink communities are shown too much and bring down the community and give us a bad name. This type of view is simply the result of internalized hatred.
We should celebrate our community and all its bawdy, flamboyant and outrageous facets. This includes not only white, conventionally gendered gay men and lesbians, but also drag queens, drag kings, trannies, S&M folks, the leather community, and others who challenge the status quo.
Let us always remember the trans, drag, working-class and queer people of color who helped ignite a revolution at the Stonewall Inn some 34 years ago. We are all indebted to the bravery of trans sisters of color such as Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, original Stonewall combatants who used their spirit and strength to imagine a radically different world.
As we continue to march towards freedom, may we join together and remember to support those whose diverse gender expressions make the world an infinitely more interesting and powerful place.
Happy Pride to All!