Walk On Podcast Episode 48 : Queer as in Fuck You
Bruce Lee said we are never more unsure of ourselves than when we are forging a completely new path. Because of the audacity of the white supremacist-capitalist-cishetero-patriarchy, straight is considered the default and everything else is considered “other.” The issue with this is that it’s a lie. With queerness being a spectrum, sheer data would suggest that most people are not entirely straight. So, then, why does it seem like queer is a minority?
Well, first of all, queer isn’t a minority, it’s marginalized. Systemically oppressed does not mean fewer in number, like the word “minority” would suggest. Also, the answer to the aforeasked question is… conditioning. We are conditioned straight. Before we are even out of the womb everyone around us starts speculating about what it’ll be like when we get straight-married, when we have children, what our interests or jobs will be. This creates expectations. So, instead of being allowed to grow into our natural, authentic selves, we (the children versions of us) conform—especially if we are punished when we don’t. This is because being loved and accepted is a basic human need. We don’t develop properly without it. Aaaaand that’s why we have self-help podcasts about leaving bad relationships and learning to love yourself like this one lol.
Being queer isn’t all struggle—it isn’t all suffering. It’s also a lot of choice. We are more likely to question the status quo intersectionally, because we know that we have been fed a lie. (Not as a rule, obv, because lots of queer white people are v problematic but I’m just saying more likely to question than your average straight person) If a person/system/program is lying about one thing, you can be pretty sure they are lying about lots of things. We see this and we go “hmm…what else needs questioning?” And we decide. We decide about monogamy, about marriage (symbolically if not legally), about children, about living situations, about how we have sex, about who our family is. Out of necessity (because the powers that be have historically perpetuated our suffering), we have always been forced to participate in mutual aide, in alternative work, in creating community spaces for ourselves.
There is an inherent revolutionary energy in being queer. The conflict is, we are often treated better the more we conform. What if I’m not interested in changing who I am to make the whitesupremacistcapitalistcisheterpatriarchy and all it’s disciples accept me? What if every fiber of my integrity tells me everything that they are is wrong?
This week, coming at you from the rainbow vortex, the forest of the future, the question without answer, the inherent revolutionary freedom in being Queer as in Fuck You. Forging a path untrodden is tough, it's lonely, it's scary, it's fraught with blocks and hurdles and backslides and failures, but it's also really fuckin' fun. The beauty of being outside the status quo is the opportunity for critical thought, for a fortitude in authenticity, for choice in all directions. Why conform when you could be free? Listen here.
