After finishing the last chapter of Queer (In)justice, take a moment before class to identify the call to action from the reading that you find the most compelling. Briefly summarize that call to action and then explain why you find it important or compelling. Aim for 250 words.
Welcome to our course blog—“Justice, Gender, Sexuality”! In this space, you’ll have the chance to reflect on our course reading, ask questions, interact with each other and build a virtual community to complement our classroom space. For this first post, I’d like to invite you to do two things: First, tell us more about yourself. What do you think we should know about you as we begin this semester together? You might consider these questions: Who are you? How do you identify? Where are you from? To whom do you belong? What communities are you a part of? What values or beliefs do you hold dear? Or, share some other facet about yourself that you think is significant. You might also consider telling us more about why you decided to take this course, and what you hope to learn from it. Then, please reflect on the reading assigned for class. Given ...
The call to action from Queer (In)justice that I find most compelling is the multi-issue, nationally linked community-based organizing approach. Some queer activists and organizations are beginning to immerse themselves in larger, intersectional issues and creating networks nationally, where their voices and perspectives are presented. Organizers of Desiring Change, make an important point: movements cannot revolve around single issues, humans live at an intersection between class, race, gender and sexuality. Issues concerning these aspects of human lives cannot be approached/addressed separately (pg. 155). These and other organizations such as UNSHACKLE, empower and support smaller, local, community based projects (Women with a Vision) (pg. 157). It is the most compelling forms of action because it is inclusive and has the ability to not be contained by a single goal. The approach focuses on three major aspects of community organizing and change: importance of local organizations, networks and recognition of intersectionality. Local organizations are less likely to be constrained by the criminal system in which individuals can no longer look to. On the contrary, their an answer to that same neglect and injustice. Networking among these and larger organizations create progress (opportunities at more resources, expansion and reaching more people who are in need of such organizations). Recognizing intersectionality promotes an understanding for different people (moving away the affluent, white individual) while also addressing other issues that affect the prosperity of an individual. It is an attempt to extensively address multiple forms of oppression and provide support for marginalized communities.
ReplyDeleteThe most compelling call to action in my opinion is to end policing of sex and gender. While I agree that including prisoners in queer rights activism is very important, I think in order to reach the most causes we must work on the very strict ideas we have of sex and gender. If we included prisoners in queer rights activism, we still might see issues when it comes to sex and gender violence outside prisons. If we want to end police brutality of LGBTQ people we have to open the door for acceptance of difference and embrace of difference.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I think ending the policing of sex and gender is the most compelling call to action. I think it would permeate all spheres creating more justice and acceptance within more spheres instead of in single issues. The authors also point out that creating more acceptance and celebration would end the need for using the legal system to combat violence or hate crimes against LGBTQ people. This way the authors say we are presenting an alternative to a system that may not work as well as we would hope. I do acknowledge however that this is easier said than done, some people simply do not want to change their mind on ideas of sex and gender for multiple reasons. Still, if we simply educated people about sex and gender, intersex and transgender people that might help give way for some acceptance and tolerance which could seep its way into the legal system, prison system and places where violence against LGBTQ people is possible
A call to action that I found most compelling is the idea of Organizing For Safe Communities. This approach centers around a community-based approach, and how members can developed “alternative, concrete, and successful responses to violence against queers” (Mogul et al, 149). I find this call to action to be the most compelling because it allows community members to take matters into their own hands. Furthermore, members would be provided with the appropriate training that will empower them to stand up for one another and to stand up against injustices. With this approach, community members are empowered to be proactive in preventing violence and “intervene when violent situation arises” (Mogul et al, 150). Most importantly, through this approach, community members will be able to build a relationship with the LGBTQ+ community. Moreover, there will be safe spaces for LGBT people of color to go to. Through these safe spaces, it will be a visibly place where “community members prevent and intervene in racist, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic violence” (Mogul et al, 150). With these strategies, it will give LGBTQ+ people a place to go knowing that they are safe and supported. Mogul, Ritchie, and Whitlock also points out that community members are able to come together and build on their ideas without relying on law enforcement. This idea resonates with me particularly because it reminded me of our brave space training that we did back in September. This call to action is similar in a sense because it teaches community members on how to become better allies to the LGBTQ+ community and how to stand up aganist injustices.
ReplyDeleteThe Call to Action I find the most compelling is the gatherings at the Barnard College Center for Research on Women. The purpose of these gathers is they believe that just focusing on one social justice issue is inefficient and to focus on multiple would be more widespread and get more coverage. Some things that they focus on is, criminal justice, immigrant rights, sexual rights, and reproductive justice. This is the call to action I find most compelling because the logic behind it makes the most sense to me. There’s a quote that says, “There’s power in numbers.” I believe this applies when talking about this call to action. One way this applies is in the numbers of social justice issues we fight for. In general, if we pack together on all the things we’re passionate about, there are more people to fight for all the issues instead of just one. In turn, this will bring about more change because more people will know about it and there will be more people spreading the word. Another reason this is most compelling to me is because of the reason the organizations want to get together. They believe that national LGBT organizations are fighting for that specific but not the issues that the LGBT community is worried about themselves. While I do like that the national organizations are fighting for those rights, I believe that those organizations fighting for the rights that the LGBTQIA+ community is also fighting for, it would be more effective in change on the higher level of the law.
ReplyDeleteThe call to action I find the most compelling is one of the Audre Lorde Project’s (ALP) initiatives, the Working Group on Police Violence (WGPV). The ALP is a community center for people of color who identify as Two Spirit, Gender non-conforming, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and more. The agenda of the WGPV is to respond to street violence in 1997 as Rudy Giuliani was serving as the Mayor of New York. It includes responding to police brutality as a big topic, specifically with people of color who are not straight or identify with their biological sex. It also challenged topics that are related to violence that is not based on sexuality, gender, and race such as the “war on terror.”
ReplyDeleteI think this is so important because people of color already have to face archetypes about their race, including with the police. When their sexuality and gender identity come into place, they are at even more risk for hate crimes. To add on, when they experience hate because of their sexual/gender orientation and their race, nobody talks about it. It is devastating that society ignores those experiences for the most part. The ALP is bringing it to the forefront and is continuing to bring up that advocacy today. It also does more to advocate against any form of violence, which makes it so unique.
In order for all of us to create change, we got to get involved with organizations like the ALP or within our local LGBTQIA+ community centers.
The direct action that I find most important is confronting policing of sex and gender. The authors encourage the LGBTQA+ community to be inclusive to all members and to challenge all situations of police violence together. They then advocate for the community to create relationships with various advocacy organizations so situations of police violence against queer people can be fought. And finally they encourage their readers to always think of new ways to confront the policing of sex and gender effectively. I think that this call to action is most important because the police are supposed to be enforcing the law in our communities and when they unjustly act out violently towards queer people then it shows that our legal system is functioning properly. If there is an outcry about police brutality towards queer people then the public will be able to see what’s problematic about the archetypes that make queer people intrinsically criminal. If system that allows the enforcement of archetypes is challenged then it could offset the entire base of the archetypes. If the confronting the policing of sex and gender is addressed first then we can challenge the “backbone” of our legal system.
ReplyDeleteAfter finishing the last chapter of Queer Injustice, the call to action I found most compelling, was the call to end the policing of sex and gender. The call is to challenge all policing of sex and gender. In order to do this, the authors recommended uniting as one and working with advocacy organizations to challenge unjust policing of queer folks. I think this call outweighs the other calls, because this targets the root of the problem, and why queer identifying people are more targeted for policing and are more likely to end up in jail.
ReplyDeleteAddressing the issues that occur after policing, such as the mistreatment of queer people within prisons, is also important. The idea of the police specifically targeting queer people, unfortunately has been common, so we also need to fight for community members that are within prisons. At the same time as we are advocating for queer people who are being mistreated in prisons, we need to stop the targeting of queer people by police, or else they will just keep filling the jail cells with queer people right as we make progress within the jail.
The point of having law enforcement is to make citizens feel safe. For queer people law enforcements’ specific targeting of their community, makes them feel the exact opposite of safe. This is an infringement on queer rights. No one should have to worry about the police keeping them safe based on sexual orientation. The only way to reform prisons with queer perspective in mind, is to do everything in our power to prevent the over policing of queer people.
Combining important components from a variety of proposed solutions, I was intrigued by the idea of community-based alternatives to policing and the overall prison system. Given that, as we've discussed in class, our notion of crime is rooted in the idea of deviance from norms set by groups in positions of power, it is difficult to imagine how our current criminal legal system could be merely reformed to be anything other than oppressive. This system is particularly harmful for historically marginalized groups, as is discussed in the subsection "Confronting Policing of Sex and Gender," which shows feeding into our punitive system and increasing policing with the hopes of protecting LGBTQIA+ bodies has backfired, making it so only those with the most privilege- predominately white, male bodies- will be helped by these policies, such as the implementation of hate crime laws. This is not to say that legal protection has not been helpful, it is simply not enough to address the roots of homophobia and transphobia in our criminal legal system. A community-based alternative could allow for the agency of individual communities, allowing them to take unique approaches to addressing crime in a way that is culturally appropriate and rooted in restorative justice rather than punitive punishment. This solution is nicely paired with inclusive, community-driven initiatives to address the brutal realities of oppression that exist as a result of our current system. For example, as the authors explain, "The inflexible gender binary that governs placement in the vast majority of sex-segregated facilities, including emergency housing," leaves many LGBTQ+ identifying people to be uniquely susceptible to long-term homelessness. The Gathering Place and other facilities like it serve as a great community-driven solution that redefines norms in a simple, yet radical way in the face of rampant oppression against this community. As the authors explain, there is no singular clear or isolated solution that could possibly take down this tangled web of oppression, which is why multifaceted solutions that are driven by afflicted communities themselves often serve as most effective.
ReplyDeleteI found the call to end policing of queer bodies to be the most compelling and drawing issue. Policing policies strengthen systems of epistemic violence that reduce the Queer Body to nothing more than a passive subject forced to operate within a context that the queer individual can never truly mold or alter. This silencing of Queer groups thrusts the queer body back into a state of invisibility. Queer individuals become invisible; experience and reality become molded strictly by the lens of heterosexism. Those who have the power “to define experience also have the power to confer or deny legitimacy to experiences selectively.” The Queer individual as the politically static subject will always have legitimacy of experience denied to them in the face of the political expression of power exercised by campus carry policies. Queer students ought to be able to operate, to move through the world, to locate their own subjectivity and objectivity without a sentiment of revolution defining their desires.
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