Socialist Alternative

By Katie Quarles
Minneapolis, MN
As an LGBT person, I was politicized in high school by the constant presence of homophobia. At first, I was attracted to anyone who opposed the reactionaries and Republicans on this issue and other social issues as well. However, I quickly realized that the discrimination against LGBT people had the same root cause as racism, sexism, and oppression in general.

We live in a system that relies on the divide-and-conquer method. Whites are pitted against Blacks, immigrants against citizens, and heterosexuals against LGBT people. In the last elections, Bush was able to gain support by using LGBT people as scapegoats, saying that the problems the country is facing were being caused by moral decay – which for him includes gays wanting the right to marry. Bush used this to distract from the real causes of the problems in this country, like the Iraq war, job losses, and poverty due to the lack of social programs.

The struggle for gay rights needs to be linked with other progressive struggles. If we stand together with the women’s rights, anti-racist, antiwar, and labor movements, we are all much stronger. To end discrimination and oppression of all types, we need to get rid of the system that relies on them.