“Guardian of the lesbians in the Village”- Storme DeLarverie This earned her the title of “Harlem’s most famous lesbian” according to The New York Times. If that was not bold enough, she regularly flirted with women in the audience and confronted male entitlement and sexual abuse in her lyrics. Bentley would wear a top hat and a tuxedo while singing blues in Harlem establishments. She was one of the best-known black performers in the US at that time, becoming renowned for her amazing singing abilities as well as unconventional fashion. “Harlem’s most famous lesbian” – Gladys Bentleyīorn in 1907, Gladys Bentley lived her days during the Harlem Renaissance era – a prosperous time for gender-defying performers and writers. “ Racism combined with the forces of stigma, phobia, discrimination, and bias associated with gender and sexuality have too often erased the contributions of members of our community.”- quote by David J.Johns. We have gathered just a few of those heroes whose leadership and resilience continues to propel society forward and continue to influence our world by inspiring activism in support of minority groups. Sadly, for years, the ground-breaking work of these pioneers has been obscured by white and cisgender narratives which do not give enough credit to minority groups who deserve it. From activists to writers to performers, these people paved the way for marginalised communities. BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of color) have made history with their contributions to art, medicine, politics, human rights, and many other critical areas to society. Today we are going to use our voices to speak about the stories of the silenced heroes whose contributions have been largely ignored – LGBTQ+ people of color. This is the sad nature of human behaviour – those in control of society remember only what they want to, they tell the truth of what they want you to know largely twisting history, changing the details, telling their own “version” of history. Unfortunately, the contributions of many people have been lost through the years, forgotten by society. Activists, feminists, and writers used every tool in their arsenal to give a voice to those whose rights and voices were both ignored and suppressed. We are where we are today because of the blood, sweat, and tears of countless humans who fought tooth and nail for civil and political human rights. Nevertheless, a lot of progress has been made. It is not to say that all the social problems have been resolved – some unjust and prejudiced opinions are still deeply rooted in the minds of citizens, one of them being discrimination against minority groups. People are slowly becoming more and more open-minded and perceptive. What is considered “acceptable” and normalised in the eyes of the public continues to shift. Written by Ekaterine Supatashvili Social norms and the unspoken rules governing the opinions of the public & LGBTQ+ have changed considerably over the last few decades.
0 kommentar(er)
