So, yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling was historic and amazing for everyone, and after talking to lawyers and legal experts, it appears that it does apply to “everyone under the rainbow.”
That said, the strategy is telling, and what the bi community has grown used to. Remember, bi+ people make up about half the LGBT community. That said, our stories are almost NEVER used when making arguments for LGBT equality. This erasure sends a message to us, whether or not it’s intentional: “No one likes you, bi+ people. Your existence hurts the cause. We will still be nice and include you, but let the grown ups do the work and the strategy. Stay out of the limelight. Sit back, be quiet, and we’ll try to get you in on our wins.”
If you talk to legal scholars, you will find, intriguingly, that the legal arguments would most likely have only been improved by the inclusion of bi people.
Note also that POC and black people tend to more often identify as bi+ than white people. There is a racism to this, and from an intersectional perspective, the fact that the Supreme Court left bi people out of the language of its decision at this specific moment is telling in other ways. (In a survey last year, 23% of ALL young black women identified as bisexual).
I’m tired of this, tired of being told we are a liability, tired of being told that we scare people. I’m tired of the LGBT activists in Washington thinking in terms of strategy rather than authenticity. I’m tired of not feeling included on the day of the biggest court win for the LGBT community since Lawrence v Texas. I am thrilled for the LGBT community, and I am also done being treated like garbage by the LGBT community because of strategy. Our movement was built on authenticity. Act like it.
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