Jean-Sébastien Bourré
Formerly very important in the common struggles of LGBT + minorities, it seems that the concept of “allies” does not resonate the same way for part of the youth that militates and takes up the torch of people who led our struggles since the sixties . Not to say that this concept does not “reason” in the same way. First, a question: who are our allies?
In light of the struggles of LGBT + communities over the last 50 years, the majority of allies are heterosexual and cisgender people in favor of the advancement of our legal and social rights. On the other hand, it is also the members of our communities who do not live the same realities. We need them and they need us.
It is quite astonishing that I have seen, both from comments received and comments left behind in publications about our struggles, on social networks, that some members of our communities – who can be associated with some form of radicalism when watching their actions – question the role played by our allies. Even worse: some say that we do not need allies to advance our struggles and that we can very well achieve it ourselves! No but! In what world do these people live?
“We do not need allies! “As long as you have allies like that, it’s better not to have any allies at all!” ”
To be accepted by the hetero-cis majority, which is constantly accused of imposing its “norm”, it is necessary to engage in dialogue and activate oneself on the educational level.
Indeed, the second commentary assumes that actions by some allies are not their happiness. What’s the point in helping allies see things more clearly if we can just insult them and reject their help? It is certain that if these young left-wing activists do not know their story well, as I mentioned earlier in an article entitled: “And our story, brothel? They can not transmit it adequately to those allies they reject.
So that’s another ideological drift of some extremist militants. Do they not realize that this contributes to marginalizing them and that they will be restricted to a fundamentally reduced circle of society? They will then complain about not being accepted and having trouble finding jobs and … probably grasping the depths of my thinking. Everything is in the attitude we have towards others.
Thus, such actions make us lose allies. Without education and without dialogue, this majority can not understand us or learn from its mistakes to better endorse our causes. Allies are those who understand and empathize with the oppression we experience or have experienced and it is with them that we can take a more important place in society. Me, I welcome the allies. Let’s start by discussing and rather than criticize, let’s teach them our story.
Without an ally, we can not effectively combat lesbophobia, gaiphobia, biphobia, transphobia and all the “phobias” inherent in the conditions and letters added to this acronym, which groups together all the struggles of the minorities that must tighten the elbows more for historical gains.