Let Us Speak

Why do people get so irate when people talk about their identity? Even aggressive at times? Especially when a marginalised person talks about being oppressed, like it is the biggest outrage that someone might permit themself to share their painful experiences with others.

I have seen this many times, especially in regard to gender, race and sexuality, where women, people of colour and queer people get heavily criticised for talking about themselves in this way. I haven’t seen this so much for disabled people (although perhaps more so for neurodivergent people), which maybe just highlights how incredibly dismissed disabled people are in the public conversation.

The simple truth is, we talk about our identities because it is what makes our lives different to others. There is almost no need to talk about something if it is expected and ordinary. In fact, language itself is “structured around differences” (if you aren’t sure what I mean, read this article by Hadley, 2013), so the very nature of how we communicate makes it very likely that we would end up talking about our othered identities anyway. Add on to this the frustration and invisibility of what it is like to be marginalised and you can’t really blame people for wanting to talk about their experiences. 

Silencing people can be one of the most oppressive acts of all. An example of this is Section 28, which prohibited ‘promotion of homosexuality’ by local authorities from 1988-2003. This meant for 15 years, most of which time whilst I was at school, it was illegal for the public to be educated about different sexualities or to offer support to LGBTQIA+ people. I didn’t even know this was happening at the time, but that doesn’t mean that I wasn’t affected by this legislation alongside many, many others. The worst part about this type of oppression is that it happens right under our noses without people knowing, without acknowledging the long term impact even once revoked, and without the validation of what this means for people who are just trying to be themselves. 

We have LGBTQIA+ history month every February to mark the anniversary of Section 28 being repealed, to try and make up for those 15 years where understanding and respect for queer people was violated by the law, and all those many other times where we have been silenced. And, to celebrate how glorious queer people are. I don’t know why anyone would have such a problem with that… is it threatening in some way to see people refusing to conform to a uniform experience? Is it bad for their fragile ego to be criticised for the way people like them have treated others? Why don’t we all just embrace these opportunities to learn and love each other a bit more.