Last Thursday I landed in Minnesota, eager to attend Creating Change, the Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s annual queer leadership conference. Crowded into Minneapolis’ Hilton were 2,600 LGBTQ activists from all stripes of life, prominent leaders in the movement attending alongside relative novices like myself. Over the weekend, I got the amazing opportunity to reflect upon what’s happened to the LGBTQ movement in the past year, and to prepare for the fights that lie ahead. I was challenged to reconsider my privileges and disadvantages as I interacted with people quite different from the homosexuals I normally encounter at Georgetown, a largely white and upper-middle class community. I left the Midwest with an intense feeling of introspection and an invigorated with the energy to tackle the many challenges that lie ahead in the fight for equality.
In every speech and workshop, translators of American Sign Language were visible to help those who don’t understand spoken English. People spoke openly about normally taboo subjects such as race relations, bondage and incest. In the hallways, transsexuals normally afraid to act like their self-identified gender proudly dressed how they wanted. I painted my nails gold for the occasion — certainly not something I’d be comfortable doing at Third Edition or even in my women’s and gender studies class. This incredible safe space stood in stark contrast with America’s often stifling gender dichotomy.
But despite the immense intellectual challenges and incredible energy I witnessed at Creating Change, some very troubling tendencies lay beneath the surface of the conference. First and foremost, the assumption made by the leaders of the Gay and Lesbian Task Force, as well as seemingly every person I encountered, was that as a gay man I should identify as a liberal. As speech upon speech urged everybody in attendance to align themselves with “progressive” causes such as labor rights (read: unions), civil rights (read: NAACP) and economic justice (read: income redistribution), I found myself disturbed by the incredible irony of the situation. As an openly gay man, I have thrown off the shackles of gender oppression, only to be put into another box entirely by the supposedly liberated movement with which I align myself.
More troubling still was the stifling political correctness I encountered at every turn in Minneapolis. To the woman in one of my workshops who apologized for being white because her privilege naturally marginalized people of color, I say that I can acknowledge the privileges and disadvantages I face, but that I will never apologize for any facet of my identity. To the woman who beseeched fellow attendees “not to judge those who committed a homicide” in our discussion of the American prison system, I say that she is more than welcome to treat murderers like she would treat anybody else, but I’d prefer to maintain social relationships only with those who have never taken a human life.
I found myself embroiled in arguments that often revolved around language. Over and over again, I was implored to avoid supposedly offensive terms. “Illegal immigrant” couldn’t be said, even though somebody who has crossed our border has done so against U.S. law. I can’t describe my movement as “gay” at the risk of offending lesbians, transsexuals and bisexuals who don’t think they should fall under that umbrella term. Even the word “crazy” is off-limits because it could offend those with mental disabilities. Frustrated by those who were scanning my language for markers of prejudice, I realized a simple fact: If you’re too busy focusing on every specific word coming out of my mouth, you aren’t actually engaging with any of the points I’m making.
I wonder when the day will come when I will no longer be able to describe this infinite, self-gratifying and hair-splitting political correctness as misguided to avoid offending anybody with a poor sense of direction. If this political correctness is allowed to freeze our language, we will find ourselves without the words to address any of the issues we face. We must focus on the bigger picture. Instead of paying lip service to the notion of a tolerant society, we should attempt to engage intellectually with our ideas as well as our language to actually get us there.
As I gear up to face the many real issues facing Americans, gay and straight alike, I won’t be silenced. Not by those who are prejudiced against me, and not by those who wish to paralyze my speech.
Albert Eisenberg is sophomore in the College. He can be reached at [email protected]. JUST DOING ME appears every other Friday.
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