The Problem with LGBT Elitists

Having pride in yourself as LGBT is a lovely thing. It means you accept yourself, and want to share it with everyone; however, having pride in yourself as a self-proclaimed superior in LGBT politics is not a good thing. Just because you aren't part of heteronormativity does not necessarily mean you know more than the heteronormative followers.

Belief: "If you don't come out, you're letting every LGBT person down."

Coming out is a great thing. It's important to accept yourself; however, not everyone who accepts themselves wants to come out and that's fine, too. Believe it or not, many LGBT will claim it's fine to come out when you're ready, but then hound you when you haven't. I've written about how important it has been that celebrities come out, but I never said they have to come out. It just helps make it more visible. When people are forced to come out it isn't the pleasant liberating experience it's supposed to be. It's really just a response to being bullied about it.

Belief: "You haven't come out to me; therefore, you must be straight."

One would think no LGBT person would ever assume someone to be straight, but this isn't true.

There, I said it.

If announcing your sexual orientation is the most important part of being gay, because otherwise you're straight, then all of the people who have already come out have done nothing to stop society from embracing heteronormativity. The point of coming out as LGBT is to change people's view on society so we acknowledge we can't know things about each person's identity without being told.

Also, this means out LGBT people who think this way are hypocrites because they're making the same assumption about others that has been made about them: straight until "out."

Coming out to prove someone wrong is never a good idea; even if it's to the LGBT community that thinks you're the spitting image of heteronormativity or you're a butch lesbian who is being forced out of the closet because "we all know, already!"

Coming out should be a personal choice made when the person is ready.

Belief: "Straight people cannot understand the struggle of being LGBT."

If someone has come out as straight, but supports LGBT rights we can't assume they don't know anything about LGBT issues. This outlook severely pushes back progress. Usually, straight supporters are well-versed in the issues; otherwise, they probably wouldn't be so active.

Too many people ignore issues which do not directly affect their lives; therefore, a lot of straight people do not care about LGBT issues. Fortunately, today, there are more straight people who do.

A lot of people relate the LGBT rights movement to the black civil rights movement. If it weren't for white people joining black people there may have been even less people unafraid to listen to what needed to be changed. We know many white people didn't actually agree with what had been happening to blacks, but there was a deep fear of punishment for standing up against the law.

Side Note: The reason I do not refer to rights for black people as "African American" is because it would exclude blacks from other areas of the world who came to America.

Ignorant people think the LGBT come out to spread their gayness; the real reason is to get people to realize heteronormativity is not helping our society; therefore, the real point of people coming out is to repeat the statement: Don't Make Assumptions, whether you're heterosexual or LGBT. After all, no matter your sexual orientation, people have a habit of making judgements based on how they perceive you rather than according to who you actually are. It's time to acknowledge the reality that there are so many parts to a person's identity we can never correctly guess.