I’ll keep moaning, thanks.
Despite the fact the month has been celebrated since 2005, many people still don’t understand the importance of celebrating LGBTQ+ history, now Cheddar Gorgeous has spoken about why it’s vital
It’s not remotely vital. Homosexuality was decriminalised fifty years ago. They now have equal rights with regard to marriage. No one really cares. But they still keep banging on about it. Frankly, like many, I’m sick of hearing about it. Not to mention we get the tedious Pride bollocks in June.
LGBTQ+ history month is celebrated every February across the UK, and was founded in 2004 by the co-chairs of education charity Schools OUT, Paul Patrick and Professor Emeritus Sue Sanders.
The month sparks feelings of pride and allyship from those who celebrate, but people who aren’t in the community might write off as unnecessary if they lack understanding around its significance.
I don’t feel pride about my sexuality, it just is. Nor do I ram it down everyone’s throat. Nor do I make a constant fuss about it, nor do I define myself by it. Nor do I think it needs a month of whining to bring it to everyone’s attention. Homosexuality is no longer a big deal. No one is being oppressed because of it anymore.
Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK season four runner-up Cheddar Gorgeous wants to change this narrative, as
theyhe tell(s) The Mirror why having a dedicated month to celebrate queer history will remain vital for as long as people ‘moan about it’.
Then I’ll keep moaning about it. Two can play this game and I have plenty of stamina.
TheyHe also highlighted how important it is to show allyship, even if you don’t identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community.
I’m not your ally and never will be. This is because I despise self-obsessed narcissists.
“I don’t understand people having the view that learning about people who are not like us is a burden”,
theyhe said, adding: “Learning about people who aren’t like you is fascinating, it’s interesting, it makes you rethink your own understanding of your own world in a way that may even provide you with a little more freedom.
I have no interest in learning about you. I already know enough. And that’s too much. Self-obsessed narcissists really aren’t that interesting after all.
Cheddar called out the ‘implicit homophobia’ in people complaining about how ‘terrible LGBT history month is’, and highlighted the fact that you can ‘learn a lot from people who disagree with you‘.
That’s a two-way street, but those of us who disagree are accused of having a fake mental illness. Maybe practice what you preach, then I might be inclined to listen.
When asked about the importance of teaching LGBT history in schools, the drag queen said: “I’m very into the idea of teaching kids things that open up a sense of who they may be, and not close that off. And so, whilst I think it’s incredibly important to teach kids that different people exist, I also think it’s important to allow kids to be kids.
Sooner or later, it comes down to going after the children. There’s a theme here and it’s sick, frankly. This is adult stuff.
*No, I’m not using your stupid pronouns and have corrected the Mirror’s poor grammar that results from it.
I have Karenphobia. But it is not irrational. But it is a fear.
Where does that put me in the LBJCBQ++ hate list?
A street parade of Karens I would watch. From a distance.
I’m now a Putinist because only an atom bomb can clear the air, and Putin is the best chance we have at the moment.
“This is because I despise self-obsessed narcissists.”
And there is no shortage of self-obsessed narcissists which is why they compete so fiercely for their share of attention attention (from people who mostly don’t give a damn).
Yes, from the love that dare not speak its name to the love that shrieks its name loudly, constantly and tediously.
Somewhere between those extremes is a happy medium. Just one example here… Normal, well-balanced people don’t go into a training session and announce their sexuality to the group and then mince about like a seventies sitcom caricature. We aren’t interested. Really, we aren’t. But saying that makes me some kind of phobe apparently.
As soon as you start talking about ‘showing allyship’ [ugh!] and ‘celebrating’, this becomes less about history than contemporary activism; with a certain irony, real people of the past are reduced to mere tools to convey a message. If you are going to campaign in school, at least be honest about it rather than cloaking it with a pseudo-academic gloss.
Far better, surely, to ensure that LGBT figures appear in the curriculum in their historical context where appropriate at any time of year. For example, the ‘female husbands’ of the 18th century have a place in the social history of the time, arguably an important one because of what their existence says about the position of women in their society, as do the male pairings of the fearless Theban Band of Ancient Greece or the undue influence of Hugh Despenser on Edward II (although the lobbyists would presumably rather forget that one). It’s all very interesting – but only if you are already willing to learn and have the subject knowledge to put it into context.
Pupils, by and large, tend to be rather cynical about such initiatives; an earnest and well-meaning Deputy Head I worked under decided to introduce an ‘LGBTQ Diversity Celebration’ on the first Friday of term, and the entire pupil body immediately dubbed it ‘Gay Day’. I still cherish the memory of her face the first time she overheard that!
Alan Turing and Oscar Wilde would also be worth teaching about along with the changing societal attitudes.
Or my nan’s brother, he was a poof. Owned a handbag factory, stinking rich, dabbled in antiques with his lifelong partner. Ultra-conservative, very right wing.
Or Ernst Rohm
Only schizophrenics would have the pronouns “they, them”.
Just a thought.
Shvatio
LR
You should have corrected ‘us’ to ‘me’ as well.
Just saying ,?