Put bluntly, the danger and microaggressions that [anyone who isn’t straight, white, and male] face in the United States is the same as being in a European ground war.
“For the LGBTQ community and other minorities, war is fought every day”, LGBTQNation
I get that we all have different demons to face—racism, sexism, classism, an intersection of various forms of discrimination. Religious groups increasing their attempts to be exempt from anti-discrimination laws so they can discriminate against LGBT couples, single women, immigrants, whatever. Pushing back against bans on conversion therapy, insisting on using ”gay panic” defenses, banning books and movies showing LGBT characters, trying to use religion as an excuse to prevent LGBT couples from adopting or using fertilization and surrogacy services.
There are issues big and small that come with being attracted to the same sex, but comparing our battles to actual war trivializes what real war actually entails.
Thank the gods that I have never been a soldier called to battle, that I live on soil that hasn’t seen war since the American Civil War. My grandparents have fought in and survived WW1 and WW2 on both sides; my father drafted during Vietnam but as a mechanic stationed at bases in Europe he never had to face actual battle.
I know people who have endured war from every generation. The shit they endure is so much worse than the shit we have to endure every day in the States.
The closest I have ever come to war was the footage I have seen, the stories I have heard from refugees and immigrants who re-settled stateside to flee war, because they have families and all they want are quiet lives to work and raise their families. From soldiers and mercenaries who opposed our government’s invasions but had no choice. We have safe spaces to recuperate from the harassments, bullshit, and discrimination that we have to deal with on a daily basis—but those who are living through actual war don’t have any such reclusion. Not knowing if and when their home could be the next target of attack. If the coyote who claims to be taking you to safety could abandon you at any moment, or leave you for dead at some point when be becomes inconvenienced. If and when you will find your next meal. If being separated from your loved ones if you will ever hear or see them again. And probably a dozen, if not a thousand, other scenarios I can’t think of, because being the member of a minority in an otherwise “safe” country is nothing like being the victim of an actual war.
Yes, hate crimes exist, and some end up deadly for members of our community. I am not denying that. I could always become the victim of corrective rape again. Someone could could come and destroy my car, or invade my residence and destroy it. Any LGBT-centric place I attend could be subject to domestic terrorism. At any point I come out someone could potentially assault me. The doctor at the ER in a state that doesn’t prohibit discrimination against queers could decide not to treat me because he doesn’t care for my “lifestyle”. HIV medications could at any day be rescinded from being required to be covered, thus leaving us to either financial ruin or see our HIV status progress to the point of AIDS–as in we could regress to the 80s again.
The lives of minorities are a contant fight and struggle, but I wouldn’t compare it to a battle or war.
That, or maybe living in a small town has just sheltered me too well to realize it.
Charleigh Copley 