So there's a clear and apparent culture war being waged on LGBT people.

[BrentB]

That much has been true for a while now. How do you think we should move forward? Should our biggest, loudest & most influential public figures continue to do what they're already doing? What would you change about how those that, for better or worse, represent us do so? 

[XO_Life]

Well, I am for one do not feel represented by the likes of Sam Smith nor does the majority of homosexuals. 

[HausOfGerard]

1 minute ago, XO_Life said:

Well, I am for one do not feel represented by the likes of Sam Smith nor does the majority of homosexuals. 

This.

[YourNumber1Witch]

Honestly, it doesn’t concern me overall. I think it’s important we’re all safe, obviously, but I think it is to be expected. Any sort of impactful progress will be met with rigid resistance and push back. If anything the signs of resistance are proof that times are changing. 

[HausOfPunk]

Progress can be 3 steps forward, 1 step back. As long as we are headed in the right direction...

[Beyondslay]

Idk but this Homosexchaa fights AND shoots back! 

 

 

[HeavyMetalAura]

I'm going to answer this in regards not only to LBGTQ+ people but also to people of color. Their experiences are different but I think a war is being waged on the latter as well, and there are striking similarities in how the media approaches these two movements in media/entertainment. Regarding the entertainment industry...

 

I think that, in the age of social media and in this decade, we are probably at the point where the phrase "representation is so important!!" is a bit tired. How many gay Netflix shows are there? How many black and latino artists are charting on the Hot 100 right now? How many queer artists are on the radio? How many "black excellence" and "black girl magic" influencers are there? Don't get me wrong, it's great that minorities and queer people are being better represented in the entertainment industry, but despite the fact that we've made all this progress in the media, it hasn't done much when it comes to government policy, and if anything minorities are worse off than we were a decade ago. The media market is saturated with POC and LGBTQ+ people. Would another Lemonade or To Pimp a Butterfly be nice and start some interesting conversations that ultimately don't go anywhere on Twitter? Sure. Would it be nice if Sam Smith and Kim Petras continued unapologetically pushing gender norms and owning their sexualities on every TV show with a live music slot? Of course. I'm not trying to downplay the politically-charged works of queer and POC artists. There's value in it. And it's better for it to exist than not exist. And I'm certainly not saying there should be less of it. But look at where we are in America. It's not enough, and it's less impactful than Twitter or ATRL will have you believe. Let's stop pretending "representation" is a marker of progress in this day and age. A decade ago, sure. But now? It's the baseline. 

 

It's time we stop asking what Beyonce, Netflix, and Sam Smith can do for marginalized people, and instead start directing that energy toward the government.

Edited February 16, 2023 by HeavyMetalAura

[Outlaws]

5 minutes ago, YourNumber1Witch said:

Honestly, it doesn’t concern me overall. I think it’s important we’re all safe, obviously, but I think it is to be expected. Any sort of impactful progress will be met with rigid resistance and push back. If anything the signs of resistance are proof that times are changing. 

 we're losing our rights day by day, there's more hate, more anti LGBT campaigns, there's still lots of attacks against LGBT people and LGBT places.

[Betty White]

When has it ever stopped? Maybe in the western countries it was better for a while, but not in the rest of the world. 

 

If things are getting worse it's a combination of a lot of things and one of those is activists being loud and aggressive. No one wants to hear they are a Nazi, a fascist and a far-right bigot for buying Hogwarts Legacy or for thinking you should be 18 before starting HRT, for example. When you call out this sort of behaviour it's always "these things never happened" or "you're a pick me", but it is what it is. Many people in our community don't want to hear it and always fear monger with this idea that everyone hates us anyway so we should do whatever we want and cancel everyone and everything, but the reality is that the more people we attack over non-issues, the more people will hate us  

 

[gatito]

14 minutes ago, XO_Life said:

Well, I am for one do not feel represented by the likes of Sam Smith nor does the majority of homosexuals. 

 

13 minutes ago, HausOfGerard said:

This.

pick me gays like yourselves are part of the problem and i pity you

[argos]

It’s not surprising to me.
LGBT (and POC) were shoved down people’s throats in every movie and Netflix show to the point everyone is tired of misplaced representation. The hate is directed towards back into the communities unfortunately, making the whole representation thing backfire.

[Communion]

2 minutes ago, argos said:

It’s not surprising to me.
LGBT (and POC) were shoved down people’s throats in every movie and Netflix show to the point everyone is tired of misplaced representation. The hate is directed towards back into the communities unfortunately, making the whole representation thing backfire.

You think Christofascism is caused by Netflix movies?

[feelslikeadream]

18 minutes ago, XO_Life said:

Well, I am for one do not feel represented by the likes of Sam Smith nor does the majority of homosexuals. 

Ok, and? Do you think only you deserve to be represented? Tf....

[Sugden]

yeah since forever

[zasderfght]

4 minutes ago, Betty White said:

When has it ever stopped? Maybe in the western countries it was better for a while, but not in the rest of the world. 

 

If things are getting worse it's a combination of a lot of things and one of those is activists being loud and aggressive. No one wants to hear they are a Nazi, a fascist and a far-right bigot for buying Hogwarts Legacy or for thinking you should be 18 before starting HRT, for example. When you call out this sort of behaviour it's always "these things never happened" or "you're a pick me", but it is what it is. Many people in our community don't want to hear it and always fear monger with this idea that everyone hates us anyway so we should do whatever we want and cancel everyone and everything, but the reality is that the more people we attack over non-issues, the more people will hate us  

 

So people only existing in boxes of gay/straight/lesbian/bisexual is the solution? 

[argos]

1 minute ago, Communion said:

You think Christofascism is caused by Netflix movies?

It has always existed. When every piece of culture must have gay representation to be accepted, it is not surprising that people grow tired and hate increases.

[Betty White]

1 minute ago, zasderfght said:

So people only existing in boxes of gay/straight/lesbian/bisexual is the solution? 

I honestly don't know what you're trying to say, did you quote the wrong person?

[Beyonnaise]

3 minutes ago, argos said:

It’s not surprising to me.
LGBT (and POC) were shoved down people’s throats in every movie and Netflix show to the point everyone is tired of misplaced representation. The hate is directed towards back into the communities unfortunately, making the whole representation thing backfire.

But then like... should everything be straight and white again? I don't think there's anything we can really do if the masses are tired of "representation" 

 

Like I get disliking the hollowness of something like Big Pharma companies acting like they're so progressive for having a commercial featuring a black gay couple, when that same company price gouges marginalized people. I also hate that. But that's not what conservatives are mad about. They hate that they can't watch their favorite video game adaptation without seeing two men kissing. They hate seeing a black actress play a mermaid in a remake when the original had a white cartoon. But these people will always find something to be mad about, so it's useless to try to appease them.

 

I've pretty much accepted that this giant distraction of a culture war is never going to end so I kind of just don't care to complain about it anymore. It's our best bet to just keep living our lives, call out real injustice when we see it and support policymakers who might actually fix things.

[zasderfght]

Just now, Betty White said:

I honestly don't know what you're trying to say, did you quote the wrong person?

You said awhile back-- unless someone hacked your account or someone else has your exact same ATRL username-- that sexuality does not exist on a spectrum and that it's homophobic to assert otherwise. 

 

This ATRL thread is about what to do to get back equal rights for LGBTQ+ people. I'm just wondering if you consider sexuality existing on a spectrum a non-issue in terms of getting equal rights for LGBTQ+ people? 

[BletaRexher]

Sis where have you been the last 2,000 years?

[Betty White]

3 minutes ago, zasderfght said:

You said awhile back-- unless someone hacked your account or someone else has your exact same ATRL username-- that sexuality does not exist on a spectrum and that it's homophobic to assert otherwise. 

 

This ATRL thread is about what to do to get back equal rights for LGBTQ+ people. I'm just wondering if you consider sexuality existing on a spectrum a non-issue in terms of getting equal rights for LGBTQ+ people? 

Yes, I said it and I was right. However, most straight people have never even heard of that theory so luckily it doesn't play an important role in our rights.

[Headlock]

34 minutes ago, XO_Life said:

Well, I am for one do not feel represented by the likes of Sam Smith nor does the majority of homosexuals. 

 

33 minutes ago, HausOfGerard said:

This.

 

18 minutes ago, argos said:

It’s not surprising to me.
LGBT (and POC) were shoved down people’s throats in every movie and Netflix show to the point everyone is tired of misplaced representation. The hate is directed towards back into the communities unfortunately, making the whole representation thing backfire.

They’re still going to come for y’all too no matter if you shove others in front of you towards the firing squad first 

[zasderfght]

1 minute ago, Betty White said:

Yes, I said it and I was right. However, most straight people have never even heard of that theory so luckily it doesn't play an important role in our rights.

I'd argue it does have a significant role to play in LGBT+ rights. If people accepted that they're most likely not 100% straight or 100% gay, they won't think of people who identify as gay, bisexual, lesbian, queer, or anything non-hetero/sexual as alien. Maybe people will say, "You know, it's not a big deal if two men kiss or have sex." And yes, gay sex acts are still politicized and regulated in certain countries.

[Headlock]

Nothing has been shoved in anyone’s faces. THOSE people who are complaining had a warped view of the real world where everything was a ******* Stepford Wives commercial and only white heterosexual people existed and were allowed to live happy lives. Queer and POC people have always existed and will continue to exist, and reflecting that in media is reflecting REALITY, it is not “shoving” anything.

 

At no point have conservatives EVER had any ground to stand on with this. The bell has NEVER swung in our direction EVER. We literally have only had marriage legalized for less than a decade, and being queer is still not seen as a federal right. And this was before ”don’t say gay” and trans kids being thrown into the fire.

[Headlock]

27 minutes ago, Betty White said:

but the reality is that the more people we attack over non-issues, the more people will hate us  

 

The safety and well-being of trans and non-binary youth are non-issues?