Divided we fall...

Sara Whitman, of the Bilerico Project, always has some really insightful and thought-provoking posts and today was no exception. Drawing a parallel between white priviledge and the marginalization of the transgender community by the more mainstream queer community (an oxymoron I know), she says:

... how do we do the same thing in the LGBT community? How do we push hard against someone else, make someone smaller, less than in order to feel our privilege?

We divide ourselves, like the people of New Orleans. The "normal" queers can have rights but let's be sure those people can't move in on our rights.

It is ironic, because those who are against us think we're all freaks. They liken us to pedophiles and sexual deviants. As if cutting off one of our arms will make us any more likable to them.

It won't.

We say that transgender inclusion is too hard. We'll be good little queers and dress the right way, look pretty and handsome, play the game the way those in power have dictated the rules. We have, after all, already pushed the envelope to the edge by including Gays and Lesbians.

Referencing a presentation on white priviledge by Tim Wise, Whitman says:

Watch Tim Wise again. Think hard about the words in our own community, how we fight amongst ourselves, making ridiculous lines in sand to somehow feel more powerful.
We are not part of the club of those in power. We never will be.
It truly is a ridiculous notion of Gay Privilege.

Yup.

And here is the rest of it.