Feminism and the fight for LGBT+ Rights
In a modern world where a woman’s body is a political battleground and sexual minorities are denied the right to marry, the third and most recent wave of feminism centers around a theme of intersectionality. Particularly, the LGBT movement finds ground with feminism, and vice versa. Throughout the years, feminism has sought to push political and cultural agendas that benefit a culture of equality across LGBT issues.
A Consistent Alliance Against Gender Norms
One of the primary ways in which feminism supports and furthers the mission of the LGBT movement is through feminism’s consistent and historical advocacy for the deconstruction of gender norms. With every generation of children greatly pressured to conform to their specific set of gender rules, a strong means of social control is established, greatly limiting the individual’s freedom of expression. Feminism seeks to end this, confronting the shame that society piles on effeminate men and the stigma of the masculine woman. These confrontations line up well with the LGBT movement, which, in essence, is built around dismantling these harmful social dictates.
Orientation & Expression
Beyond expression of personality and appearance, feminism and the LGBT movement also unite to fight for the freedom of sexual expression. Feminism has historically advocated for sexual liberation, and the LGBT movement benefits from the ongoing fight of feminists to bring the issue of sexual expression to the forefront of social issues and discussion. This long-standing fight on the feminist front has allowed as a sort of segway through which the LGBT movement could build their platform off of.
The fight for the rights of female homosexuals in particular is important to feminism—and a daunting task, at that. In a world where LGBT rights are growing more and more accepted, a more severe stigma tends to surround lesbians, as they deviate from cultural norms to a greater degree than homosexual males. Within a male-centric society, lesbianism is vilified and socially discriminated against across an additional facet in a patriarchal world—not only are lesbians practicing homosexuality, but they dare to function and establish a role for themselves that operates outside of a male-dependent realm.
Protecting LGBT+
In 2012, feminism secured a major, concrete win for the LGBT movement: the redefinition of rape under the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report. This fight was spearheaded by the Women’s Law Project, and in changing the UCR’s definition of rape, feminists secured the accurate recording and legal protection of individuals who fall outside the classification of “cisgendered female victim to male perpetrator” from rape.
Before this redefinition, males—according to the FBI and its Uniform Crime Report (from which countless policies and studies draw from)—were unable to be raped, and therefore were not protected under law. The same went for women who were victimized by women, men victimized by men, transgendered victims, and more. With this, limitless potential victim profiles were accounted for, providing protection for all regardless of sex, gender, and sexual orientation. Clearly, this was a great win for the LGBT community, which was suddenly greeted with inclusivity and protection under federal law.
Before this redefinition, males—according to the FBI and its Uniform Crime Report (from which countless policies and studies draw from)—were unable to be raped, and therefore were not protected under law. The same went for women who were victimized by women, men victimized by men, transgendered victims, and more. With this, limitless potential victim profiles were accounted for, providing protection for all regardless of sex, gender, and sexual orientation. Clearly, this was a great win for the LGBT community, which was suddenly greeted with inclusivity and protection under federal law.
Protecting the LGBT+ Family
Feminism continues to support and push for LGBT+ rights. The Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 was a gender-neutral act that granted the right of employees to take unpaid leave to care for a spouse, parent, or child without risk of losing their job. With the help of feminist and other civil rights groups, the Act allows LGBT individuals to take leave for a child despite a possible lack of legal or biological relationship. However, the Act does not recognize domestic partnerships or leave for treatments related to Gender Identity Disorder or gender transitions, yet—an aspect of the Act that feminism seeks to change.
Though feminism has a long-running track record as a civil rights movement for all, the feminist movement is nowhere near finished with their vision of equality, and will continue to work toward such a goal. Feminism and the LGBT+ movement have long been allies in a growing fight for equality. Though the goal of the LGBT+ movement is relatively narrow in scope, feminism's tendency to take on a broad spectrum of battles has secured the alliance between feminism and LGBT+. As feminism fights for expanded protections and intersectional dialogue, the LGBT+ movement gains the support of a long line of fighting men and women in the name of equality and acceptance.
Though feminism has a long-running track record as a civil rights movement for all, the feminist movement is nowhere near finished with their vision of equality, and will continue to work toward such a goal. Feminism and the LGBT+ movement have long been allies in a growing fight for equality. Though the goal of the LGBT+ movement is relatively narrow in scope, feminism's tendency to take on a broad spectrum of battles has secured the alliance between feminism and LGBT+. As feminism fights for expanded protections and intersectional dialogue, the LGBT+ movement gains the support of a long line of fighting men and women in the name of equality and acceptance.