Pride

Pride month is ending, and it's important to reflect on what it means, what's changed, what we can do better, and who gets left behind. By which, I of course, mean Heterosexual Cisgender people.


Now, I'm not Straight or Cis, but some of my best friends are, so I feel I know enough about their struggles to talk on their behalf without checking any of this with them first.


It's hard for them.
They go through life with barely any authentic media representation. Sure, you can head-canon a lot of Straight interactions, or write fiction in which your favourite character is Cis, but it's rare that a shows creator, let alone the character themselves, openly proclaim their Cis-Het identity for all to see. It's all subtext, and when they go online to talk about it they get yelled down by Queer bullies who are too invested in their own head-canons to engage in civil discourse. Cis-Het people make up a substantial portion of the population, and yet I don't know of a single time any of my Straight friends growing up had someone take them aside to explain that some people are Straight, and that's fine. No-one told them it's OK to be Straight, no parade, no month celebrating their identities, they might have even grown up not knowing they were Cis-Het at all! All this they had to figure that out on their own, without any support from the Queer community, the Government, or the Media.


And then there's the more overt discrimination. Not once have any of the Cis-Het people I know been fired from a job, been denied a service, or been targeted for "random" scrutiny because of their gender and sexual identity. How do you suppose that makes them feel? There's a whole part of our culture being denied to them, an entire spectrum of social interaction that they never get the opportunity to experience. Not to mention all those anti-discrimination lawsuits they are never included in, and the laws that fail to protect their rights and needs. (This is particularly a problem for Cis-Het White Men, who find themselves excluded from PoC social justice hashtags, and feminist movie screenings at a greatly increased rate)


We're moving forward as a culture, progress is happening in brave places like the United States where bills to protect Straight Cis people who have to poop sometimes, are paving the way for equality. But it's not enough. The number of countries where it's illegal to be Straight has remained steady for as long as I can remember, and shows no sign of budging. We need to stand alongside and fight with our friends in the oppressed majority, to offer them support when they're kicked out of home, or excluded from social movements.


What I'm saying, is that being Straight and Cisgender is a difficult experience and a lot more people are going through it than you probably realise. It's important that they are included and welcomed in any future Quiltbag celebrations.


Now please, a moments silence for all the people who have been died just for being brave Cis-Het people living their authentic lives.


...


All done? Good.


<3
~LRP


Todays Vaguely Transition-Themed Song: Ben Folds - Rockin The Suburbs
(Y'all don't know what it's like, being male, middle class and white.)