We know this year has seen a number of LGBT-related milestones, like marriage equality becoming legal in Pennsylvania and other states, and we have recently seen gay athletes make strides in the world of professional sports . .. but don’t get comfortable.
That, in a nutshell, is the sentiment behind “The Tolerance Trap,” the new book by Suzanna Danuta Walters, director of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies and professor of Sociology at Northeastern University. She raises provocative questions about whether victories on issues like same-sex marriage are making people more complacent about other pressing issues regarding LGBT equality.
“I do think that there is a popular storyline out there that it is not a big deal anymore,” Walters said. “Even if you look at what happened in the [openly gay NFL draftee] Michael Sam case. There are many ways to look at his coming out and what that meant. In the press it was talked about as a sign of social transformation. The times have changed so much that even a macho football player can come out. I read this, and I’m sure a lot of gay activists read this, as much more the glass is half full, that even in 2014, we still are talking about this and we still have firsts to get over. Then there was the outcry about his kiss and this was news and people gave a damn. That is how far we haven’t come. Part of the impetus for this book was to complicate that story a bit.”
Personally we don’t know of many who think the need for LGBT activism is over and are ready to hang up their protest shoes. But, Walter argues that short-term goals of the LGBT movement can be at odds with lasting long-term changes in society.
“There’s a way in which the gay movement and its straight allies have banked on a language of tolerance and acceptance,” Walters said. “As long as they tolerate us, that’s good. That’s come to be our standard language now and I want us to have a higher bar. We used to talk about liberation and freedom. But a lot of the mainstream gay movement and some of our spokespeople have adopted a low bar of tolerance as the means and the ends to gay inclusion and I think that’s a mistake.”
We pointed out that tolerance might not be perfect, but it sure is preferable to open hostility. “I’ll take tolerance any day over gay bashing and all of that stuff but I actually think that tolerance undermines thinking about real freedom,” she said. “We tolerate a rainy day or a boring meeting. We don’t talk about tolerating something we really love and celebrate. So I think the language of tolerance is about accepting something you’d rather do without. It’s a different language than celebration. We’ve gone from ‘We’re here! We’re queer! Get used to it!’ to ‘We’re here. We’re kind of gay. Please tolerate us.’ It’s a very different ethos. Tolerance undermines that potential because what can be tolerated can always not be tolerated.”
But can we at least do a little bit of a victory dance?
Walters said yes.
“Let me be absolutely clear: I’d much rather come out in this world than the world I came out in,” Walters said. “I think that gaining marriage rights is an important thing. I’m 52 and the changes in my lifetime have been enormous. I never thought I’d see half of what I see. I’d be the last person to pretend that the changes over the course of my own life haven’t been enormous. But if you read these events as only a sign that we’re just one gay-marrying state away from full liberation, then you are making a mistake. It’s not just about complacency, but it’s also about to what extent the range of issues that affect these lesbians and transgender people don’t get addressed, particularly when all we talk about is either a celebrity coming out or marriage. And we still can’t pass ENDA. This book is part of the attempt to make sure we look at the range of issues that still plague our country in terms of homophobia and the relationship between homophobia and sexism and racism and so on. It also argues that the language we have of tolerance and acceptance are themselves words and frameworks that will never get us to that other place.”
Suzanna Danuta Walters hosts a discussion and signing session for “The Tolerance Trap,” 6-7 p.m. June 3 at the William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St. For more information, visit www.suzannawalters.com.