LGBT Culture - Criticism and Dissent

Criticism and Dissent

Criticism of LGBT culture has come from a variety of sources. Some, like Michael Musto, view the culture as being too conforming to certain caricatures or stereotypes that alienate more 'fringe' members of the community. Others believe that the LGBT community's emphasis on pursuits like Marxism, socialism, or any political ideology is unworkable given the biological nature of being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, and the diversity of backgrounds within the community. Further, some believe a notion of 'separatism,' or falling into any particular lifestyle as a group, is highly alienating to many people, as well as alienating LGBT members within a broader society.

Another problem is that bisexual and transgender individuals often experience heavy social pressure to identify as gay or lesbian and can face ostracism and discrimination from mainstream LGBT culture. For bisexuals, this pressure is known as 'bisexual erasure'. New York University School of Law professor Kenji Yoshino has written, "gays de-legitimatize bisexuals... the lesbian and gay community abounds with negative images of bisexuals as fence-sitters, traitors, cop-outs, closet cases, people whose primary goal in life is to retain heterosexual privilege". In response to these criticisms, some gay and lesbian commentators retort that many or most of the people who call themselves 'bisexual' are actually straight people co-opting a chic culture, and that this deception hurts real gay people and lesbians.

Finally, criticism has been leveled that the LGBT community represents an artificial separation, rather than one based on tangible customs or ethnic identification. In particular, the labels certain LGBT members use to describe themselves vary widely and some simply prefer to identify as loving a particular gender. Also, some people believe the LGBT community idea is alienating as the abbreviation itself deliberately displays difference with straight people and as a separate group (further, demarcating three terms to do with sexuality with transgender identity, which is a significantly broader phenomenon, is highly artificial), when equality advocates would claim to represent integration.

Some gay male commentators who are in monogamous relationships argue that the mainstream gay culture's alleged disdain of monogamy and its promotion of promiscuity has harmed efforts to legalize same-sex marriage. Yuvraj Joshi argues that efforts to legalize same-sex marriage have emphasized the sameness and respectability of gay people while privatizing their queer differences.

British journalist Mark Simpson published a book titled Anti-Gay in 1996 that described various alleged forms of intolerance by the mainstream gay community towards various subgroups. The Times wrote that Simpson succeeded in "pointing out that oppression and prejudice do not become legitimate just because they happen to be practiced by the previously oppressed". Aiden Shaw of Time Out New York wrote that "Thank fucking God someone did this, because... whatever happened to our individuality, our differences?" Other commentators panned Simpson's argument, with Boyz declaring "Simpson is a cunt."