What Invisable priviledges have you seen within queer Hierarchies?

Question

Sociology has established that there is such a thing as heterosexual priviledge. However, tunnel vision that would focus soley on heterosexual priviledge denies that there is oppression going on even within the hierarchies found beneath the umbrella term of queer. (Bisexual, Trans, Lesbian, Gay, + also abbreviated as LGBTQ+)

Now, excluding heterosexuals in this equation, what invisable priviledge do you see that exist within the queer caucus?

meaning, priviledge that homosexuals might enjoy that trans people or bisexual/omnisexual people might be excluded from? Or, for another example, that bisexual/omnisexual people might enjoy that trans people or homosexual people might be excluded from? Again, that trans people might enjoy that homosexual and/or bisexual/omnisexual people might be excluded from?

Also, can one queer group oppress another queer group? If so, please list examples.

I have also posted this topic in Gender Schmender
http://groups.myspace.com/genderschmender

New website up soon:
http://www.angelfire.com/planet/genderschmender

To the person with a wordy venacular and a fondness for monty python, if i appear too wordy for you, forgive me for trying to open several angles of thought rather than just pointing the finger at a single group and saying "you're oppressing the other queer people" i'm interested in thinkers, not the "how do i get a boyfriend?" Q&A's

To the person who left the "sisters of perpetual indulgence" *thumbs up* i'd never heard of theme before. Thanks for the reference ^_~

*chuckles* I've recently contacted the ACLU for a trans friend. we'll see if they get back to me. i hope so, its important...

As for spelling, it is highly over-rated. My friend is a certified genius, and he has a 4th grade spelling proficiency. but, i'll check into it i wasn't aware yahoo had a spell checker. :O)~

Answer 1

Here is an example of the type of invisibility that minority groups experience within the greater Queer Community. A gathering of lesbian women who were organising a benefit for say a charity organisation "i.e. Nursing Homes for Older Lesbians". They arranged to meet in a community centre that is in "white privileged" area in Melbourne and they charged tickets at the price of $50 dollars per head. Now, on face value this group of lesbian white middle class women are doing a "good deed": mainly for other lesbian middle class women. One of the women gets up and says "I want to thank the Aboriginal Women of this area of Melbourne for letting us you this community centre this evening". Look around the room. Where are the Aboriginal Lesbians? Where are the Asian Lesbians? Where are women who are students, single mothers, and people on lower incomes who cannot afford to pay the 50 dollar cover charge? This community centre is where low income women who identify as bisexual or lesbian, get support and help. The room is full of middle class white women. The women happen to be lesbians. However, migrant women, people on low incomes and women from different backgrounds are being excluded, (and therefore will not be able to have the same access to Lesbian Aged Homes) based on class and race. This is really obvious in the gay and lesbian community where queer people still oppress queer people on the basis of race and class. This scenario is an example of how racism and classism is so prevalent in the gay and lesbian community: and there is an invisible hierarchy based on or mirroring that in the heterosexual mainstream community at large, where queer people still oppress queer people on the basis of race and class.

Answer 2

I agree with the first answerer, but in my experience, homosexuals are believed to have a better morale than bisexuals. We're perceived to be adulterers and sluts and unable to ever have a relationship. When some lesbians find out that I'm bi, they turn the other way. They think that I'm just looking for a fling, which I'm not. I understand their thoughts, I hate being asked to be used only as a woman's first time, but I'm not like that. Lesbians have the invisible right to be taken seriously in the real dating world.

Answer 3

There's not a strict "pyramid" heirarchy, but of course there are certain groups within the community that face more discrimination than others. I think the stereotypically outgoing, clean-cut gay man has a more accepted place in mainstream society than the truck-driving lesbian. And bisexuals seem to have less credibility than homosexuals. etc.

Answer 4

This question reminds me of that marvelous Monty Python skit, "Cochise at Oxford".

if you recall, the lecturer was going through a mentally masturbatory exegesis of whether any animal urinates on its feet - and used the duck as an example.

Unfortunately, Cochise isn't here on Yahoo! Answers to throw a tomahawk at the lecturer.

Circumlocution can be fun, I guess, but it also very tiring.

This question also reminds me of the marvelous quote from the film "Billy Madison":

"Mr. Madison, what you just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in the room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."

Answer 5

A really short answer--- extremely effeminate gay men are less tolerated by some gay men, just as really butch women are less tolerated by their 'more average' looking sisters. Bisexuals have always been regarded with suspicion because we (gay/lesbian) thought they couldn't get off the fence. Transgendered people have always had rough time being accepted by anybody because most of us just don't understand.Thankfully, for me, I am becoming much more open minded about my own community.

Answer 6

What you ask about - or are talking about - does happen. It's sad. The name of this forum, LBGT, is not only a name, it's a begining to open communication leading us all to a better understanding and hopfully a lessoning of the so called "privilege" of any particular sexual oreintation.

Answer 7

The greatest privilege I consider in the gay lifestyle is the existence of The Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence... my kind of people...

Answer 8

I think homosexuals have better than bisexuals because bisexuals are seen to "be riding the fence" or slutty, or immoral, or incapable of being monogamous. The list goes on and on.

Answer 9

Your question is to complicated and in depth to answer in the amount of typing I am willing to do. It also has a lot of theoretical context. Basically, your question is more suited for the realm of academia than this simple forum.

Answer 10

It sounds as if you are doing a diseration...I suggest you do your own research. This would take a 100 page thesis to answer.