Jean-Sébastien Bourré
The biggest fight that LGBT + communities have been fighting for 50 years now is undeniably one for freedom. What is not a choice must be lived in the open and we must make sure that as few people as possible repress their gender identity or sexual orientation. One would expect young people to join the ranks of a fight that they did not see being born by taking their place, not ALL the place, and respecting that of their predecessors. In my vision of things, it would be necessary that young and old walk hand in hand to claim the same things, that our common quests are transmitted in the love, the communication, the joy and the recognition. The older ones should necessarily teach their history and community values to the younger ones. It should be seen as an immense privilege for young people to rub shoulders with those who have crossed and marked history.
Currently, the fighting is in the extreme. The youngest ones, in turn, want to provoke and attract attention, without doubt the characteristics of youth. But is it still useful? When we surf on social networks, we see how the worldview of some activists is disjointed and polarizes the debate. They isolate themselves – we isolate – and do not envy the great majority « heteronormative » they hate so much, if we rely on their comments, to take an interest in our struggles and support them. They sometimes arouse contempt, sometimes disinterest, even within our own communities! Janette-Bertrand Award from Fondation Émergence: defined by many as an insult. Janette Bertrand campaigned against the veil and religious symbols in 2012-2013, which makes them forget all she did for Quebec with, among others, L’Amour avec un grand
A, where there was talk of homosexuality and AIDS, in 1988, during two broadcasts. Saga queer 2015: I found it horrifying to read the comments of young people who said « do not owe anything to the old » horrifying even to see walls stand between generations by the refusal of young people to understand what hurt the oldest in the identity use of the word « queer ». The white and cheerful man: it has now become a blemish to be a cheerful white man in our communities. For my part, I must be lucky to be bisexual … but that does not hide my whiteness! Joking aside, I was also labeled a white man when my first book, « TRANSition », was released. Laughter of the dead: a young trans reacted by putting a man who laughs on my page below the article on the death of Laurent McCutcheon. Without men like him in our communities, in our media, it is probably certain that our struggles would not be where they are today. Even that of trans.
To better express their point of view, they oppress, in their turn. They blow on the embers of intolerance, spit on our builders, deny history. Their militancy is negative, degrading and hateful. In fact, hate is the very driving force behind their actions. Is it really this kind of activism that we now want to see in action in our communities? Not me, I do not recognize myself and I even refuse to be associated. In conclusion, I hope that intergenerational communication will be re-established so that the youngest will know what it means to fight. We must guide them to avoid the excesses we are currently witnessing. Above all, let’s respect our pioneers and stop adding letters to our acronym, because we do not find ourselves in all these false nuances.