Rethinking Queer Activism

by Suzanne Rose

Chicago — Over 1,000 people attended the 6th Annual Bi-sexual Lesbian, Gay and Transgender College Conference at the University of Illinois at Chicago, held on Feb. 20-22, 1998. More than 90 workshops covered everything from sexuality to campus organizing. One workshop I attended was about Ford Globe (Gay, Lesbian or Bisexual Employees), an officially recognized employee resource group of Ford Motor Company, with active chapters in the U.S., Great Britain and Germany. GLOBE is visible and active both in the community and in the plants and is responsible for the addition of "sex-ual orientation" to Ford’s non-discrimination policy.

Another workshop was called "It’s Time to End The Gay Rights Movement As We Know It." This workshop questioned the current mainstream "gay rights" movement and its focus on marriage and the military to the neglect of concerns such as health care, immigration, welfare, prisoners, racism and sexism.

Many of the 100 people who attended this workshop were struggling to find new ideas and questioning what one woman called "the narrowness of thinking of our-selves as only queer activists; as opposed to just being activists." Another woman said, "I always hear about how many Americans get hurt when we bomb another country, but I rarely hear about the pain and suffering our bombs inflict on them. I envision a system where this is not okay."

One activist seemed to sum up the feelings of many of the people there when he said, "As queer activists who want to address these other issues, "what should our focus be? Are there groups out there who are already addressing these things who will welcome me as a queer activist? Is there a banner under which all these issues can be addressed?" Unfortunately, I was not able to get called on to speak to the "banner" of a philosophy of freedom and the Absolute Idea.

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