Heteroterrorism

Last semester, in my Insurgency class, my students discussed their experiences with oppression. We did an exercise some of you might know (the "step forward, step back" activity) to get a better sense of how we experience different forms of oppression. It's a really great activity that I'm happy to share with anyone who'd like it. (I first learned it from Khalilah Karim at Stanford. She introduced it as part of a consciousness-raising campaign around affirmative action.) I was fortunate to have four openly queer students in the Insurgency class, and each one of them brought so much to the discussion. Although Iowa City touts its "gay-friendly" atmosphere, my students experience a great deal of oppression, especially in spaces that are pretty unfamiliar to me (such as the streets in front of bars at night). One student, who is straight, talked about being "profiled" as gay by drunk frat-types. They called him out as he was walking downtown. Another straight student who had taken a class with me the previous year had described a similar story. The same person who had called my student out as a "fag" ended up assaulting a black student the same evening.


When we think of Sakia Gunn, Gwen Araujo, and so many others, the deadly seriousness of what my students describe couldn't be more obvious. Even in the Bay Area, Iowa Cty, or other places that purport to be "tolerant," trans- and homophobia are not hard to find. That's why these sorts of actions are so important and why I'm really glad Joshua organized this event.

Professor Kim Pearson writes about Sakia Gunn and violence directed at queer folks of color. Check out Prof. Kim's blog.

Add now to the list of the dead Satendar Singh, who was murdered by men who thought he seemed "gay." Click here to read the story on Indybay and this blog post for more information.