Comedian Roseanne Barr said yesterday that:
Never once in my 54 years have I ever once heard a gay or lesbian person who’s politically active say one thing about anything that was not about them. They don’t care about minimum wage, they don’t care about any other group other than their own self because you know, some people say being gay and lesbian is a totally narcissistic thing and sometimes I wonder.
She has since apologized on her Web site, twice (thanks, Pam). I commend her for that. Given that her eponymous sitcom was one of the first television shows to tackle LGBT issues positively and openly, I do believe she was not being homophobic, though she was clearly misguided.
Here’s a question for you, then, to offer her some guidance: If you consider yourself “politically active,” what are the issues that you care about aside from LGBT ones? For the sake of argument, let’s define “care about” as “took an action to support within the past few years,” such as signing a petition, writing to an elected official, or donating money. For me, the list includes (in alphabetical order) education, the environment, health-care reform, hurricane and tsunami relief, public radio and television, and reproductive rights. You?
Oh, how sad. That comment just makes me queasy and sad.
Personally, I have been off and on active with my local Democratic party, a lobbyist for non-profit organizations on issues related to privacy, freedom of speech, education, and Internet safety, and a civil and constitutional rights lawyer. Way back in the day I was the “shop steward” for unionized graduate student workers in my law school and on the board of the US Student Association. And I’ve been involved in more political campaigns than I can count.
I’ve also been “minimally active” (ie donated money or signed petitions, but not been a leader) on living wage, environmental issues, Internet neutrality, reproductive rights, and women in sports.
Right now, as a mom of a toddler, I’m not the activist I used to be. I don’t think that’s a permanent condition, but motherhood probably will influence where and how I spend my political energy and time when I do have some again.
The thing that makes me the saddest and most disappointed in the comment is thinking about the gay men and lesbians I know who have dedicated their careers to making a difference. I know 2 or 3 professional environmental/sustainable development activists, 2 or 3 union workers, current and former Hill staffers, a civil rights leader, people who work for agencies fighting hunger and homelessness, advocates for the fair use of intellectual property…
Oh yeah, and I donated money and goods for hurricane & tsunami relief, and am a member of my local NPR station.
I read Roseanne’s comments and thought that she probably misspoke. She’s been an ally to the LGBT community for so long, it wouldn’t have made sense for her to intentionally make a homophobic remark. Also, she’s heard LGBT people advocating for non-LGBT causes – it’s just that the sexual orientation of the advocate is not usually salient on non-LGBT issues. That is, when a lesbian is advocating for better environmental standards, she’s probably not going to make her sexual orientation part of the discussion.
However, in reading Roseanne’s apology, I think that she does have a point. People who advocate on LGBT issues, such as marriage equality, should also advocate for other social justice issues, such as living wages, access to education, and eliminating racism. And, I too am perplexed by LGBT Republicans.
As for my political activism, last year I worked on the successful State Senate campaign of a former law professor of mine. He is extremely progressive and one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. I’ve written a number of letters to my Congressional representatives regarding the U.S.’s violations of human rights and the Geneva Conventions. A few years ago, I represented a Christian woman seeking asylum here because she was persecuted in her home country. My girlfriend is an environmental advocate, so we give to a number of environmental causes and we attended a big Green Living convention last year. We hit the farmer’s market for locally sourced food as much as we can. Still, though, I reckon my primary area of advocacy is on LGBT equality.
I’m confident that political narcissism is not exclusive to the LGBT community. I would argue that politically active people are generally most passionate about issues they feel directly affect their lives and/or the lives of those they care about. While my partner and I certainly take into account a candidate’s support of LGBT rights before casting a vote in support of him or her, it is not our only concern. We also consider that person’s stance on or support of child welfare initiatives, taxes and spending, and public education. We also support various community organizations that assist child abuse victims and community centers that provide a variety of services to local communities.
I actually read that Rosanne comment shortly after looking at a bunch of young queers on Livejournal bitching about HRC and they were basically saying exactly the same thing she was. I disagree completely, but a lot of “radical queers” seem to think gay rights group should ignore gay rights (they’re particularly hostile to marriage) and work on overall social justice issues. So it’s not like she came up with this stuff out of nowhere.
Not that I don’t care about social justice, I do. But I prefer my single issue groups to stay on issue.
I’m really big on reproductive rights and general civil liberties and we give money to each. My partner’s worked with Mass Naral. I also worry about hate in general and I’ve worked with anti-racist groups in the past to expose so neo-nazi infiltration into the Neo-Pagan community.
I’m really worried about some economic issues, particularly the decline of the middle class and social stratification and very few people seem to be doing much about it. Once it gets brought up, it ends up being channeled into relief for the extreme poor. But it’s not about giving the very poor a fish (though we do far too little), it’s about the decreasing ability of anyone to fish for themselves. And into that goes all sorts of concerns about housing prices, the health care disaster, migration and offshoring, and a lot more. And nobody is doing anything but talking about a few bandaids.
Kathy: I think you’re right about LGBT-rights groups sticking to LGBT rights. If every progressive group worked on every progressive cause, we’d have chaos and no expertise anywhere. Having said that, I also think there are things these groups can do to support each other, especially in the places where their initiatives overlap, without diluting their main purpose. For example, health-care reform is not an LGBT issue per se, but LGBT groups should work with health-care-reform groups to make sure that any health reforms take into account the needs of the LGBT community. I think there’s room for coordination among groups without every group having to work on every cause. Just my opinion.
I’m sruggling with this one, honestly. I hold very strong values relating to education, foreign policy, reproductive rights, economic equity, the environment and universal healthcare (in no particular order). But I also think that rights for same-sex families are the thing that affects me, and my kids, the most. So treatment of LGBT folks is the thing I go out of my way to look for when I choose which companies to patronize and folks to vote for. it’s not the only thing, but the thing I examine the most closely and the issue I give money too. Luckily, it often does not end up being a conflict- usually anyone progressive enough to support same-sex marriage is at least in the same universe as I am on those other areas as well. Not to say I ignore the other issues- i have marched for women’s rights as a whole, protested at the supreme court (and inauguration) after Bush’s “appointment” and am on a crusade to make my impact on the environment better. I also do advocacy work for poor women in areas of custody and domestic violence, and also have assisted refugees, immigrants, and hurricane katrina victims. But the most important issue to me? At this moment? With one little kid and another on the way? LGBT marriage…. If an otherwise conservative pro-choice, pro-lgbt marriage candidate were up against a candidate who is more left leaning on economic and other issues, I might have a hard choice. Selfish? Probably. True? Yes.
Maybe if you pay attention only to orgs like HRC or GLAAD or something – she obviously has never been to a NGLTF event or read their stuff.
We support pfaw, Americans united for separation of church and state, the children’s defense fund, SEIU, NGLTF, and Equality Maryland.
I’m surprised to hear those comments from Rosanne. I have given time and energy to a number of issues: education, juvenile justice reform, minimum wage, voter rights, environment, cancer research, reproductive rights, transportation, child welfare, affordable housing. I’m very politically active and I could never isolate one issue from another. I’m on so many darn lists for donations, I feel like I kill a tree a week. However, organizations like HRC only comment on issues related to LGBT rights. On the other hand, NAACP comments on issues beyond race. Maybe the organizations who “represent” us are narcissistic.
I hate that we all have to play at the “but I do care about others” game.
No one expected civil rights activists of the early 60’s to fight for anything but their own issues. I realize its a different world now and we see things as more connected, but give me a frickin’ break!
Our concerns as a GBLT community are just that. With our focus (focii?) spread out into other issues, clarity gets lost. We are fighting for OUR rights. Too bad if that seems self focused or “narcissistic.” I do not want to play at the game at pointing out all the other “nicey nice” things I do to hopefully better our world, even though I do them. As a couple, my partner & I have decided to remain as focused as possible at keeping our fights geared on our GBLT issues ONLY- there’s just not enough energy or time in the day to take on every noble cause…