4 minute read
Fighting ‘the heteroactivist enemy’ and other approaches
Prof Kath Browne outlines how research she carried out with Catherine Jean Nash led to the Beyond Opposition project
Same-sex marriage, adoption, LGBTQ+ family status, and government recognition and support have been entrenched legislatively and socially in places like Britain, Ireland and Canada. These changes are contested, including by those who see heterosexual forms of family as the ‘best for society, best for children’, and/or those who see sex/gender as a binary between men and women.
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It’s sometimes assumed that those opposed to LGBTQ+ rights are becoming more marginalised or ‘dying out’. Yet a 2018 UK IPOS survey showed that whilst 73% of people supported same-sex marriage, 8% thought it should be banned outright, with a further 13% personally disagreeing. In recent years, we’ve seen protests around LGBTQ+ inclusion in schools and curricula, challenges to university ‘no platforming’ speakers who disagree with LGBTQ+ rights and successful challenges in court to those who refuse to sell cakes with messages of support for gay rights and same-sex marriage.
Our work on ‘heteroactivism’ examines the ways these legislative and cultural changes are challenged. Heteroactivists are not ‘anti-gay’ or homophobic in ways that were apparent in places like the UK in the 1990s; they could instead be classified as ‘pro-heteronormativity’. For example, instead of labelling gay men as paedophiles, heteroactivists often emphasise the importance of biological, married mothers and fathers for children and families. Indeed, heteroactivists spoke of supporting civil partnerships, while opposing same-sex marriage. Central to this is UK legislation and society, where same-sex marriage and abortion rights are supported and hate speech and hate crimes are prohibited.
As part of the research for our book on heteroactivism, Catherine Jean Nash and I went to events. What is now the Beyond Opposition project started at one of these conferences. The lead organiser offered a case study of parents who did not support their transgender child’s gender transition. My fieldnotes read:
Catherine Jean Nash
‘Bethany’ (name given, it is likely that the child would choose a more masculine name) was home schooled and moved into a mainstream school. ‘She’ started a same-sex relationship, and now wants to be a boy. The parents want the restoration of family and their ‘daughter’ to grow up to be the ‘woman God wants her to be’. The parents feel that they are not listened to and ‘encouraged by social services’ to treat her like a boy. The parents say that they are told that if they don’t agree to name change that it is neglectful and that ‘she’ is suicidal. The mother argues that ‘we love our daughter’.
As a parent, I wondered how I would feel. What would I do if my children were to reject our fundamental family values at the urging of the state and I was told to respect their decisions to allow them to become the ‘woman God wanted her to be’?
One of the aims of our Beyond Opposition research project is to understand the experiences of those who are opposed to/ concerned about some of the most important contemporary issues around sex, gender and sexualities; including same-sex marriage, abortion and trans rights. We also want to speak to those who are worried about their kids being taught about same-sex marriage or gender transitioning in schools, those who are concerned about sharing their views about sexual and gender equalities at work and others who find legislative and cultural changes challenging.
Participants in Beyond Opposition have told us that their views affect their lives. They have been threatened, silenced, excluded and some avoid sharing their views in places to avoid a negative reaction. Our work on heteroactivism tells us that these experiences of social exclusion further galvanize people to seek out like-minded groups and organisations, to work together to enable them to live their lives. These connections, networks and empowerments are having some successes in court rulings and in terms of sympathetic media coverage, especially when the arguments are based on personal experiences of exclusion.
Identifying the enemy, the oppressor, is an important political tool. It unites specific groups and enables key fights against oppression; it allows us to identify those who we should hate/avoid/attack on social media. This can be empowering and effective for some forms of social justice, where making an ‘us’ against a ‘them’ creates community and belonging. We can know who we are, which ‘side’ we are on, who our allies are.
However, increasing polarisations around ‘us vs them’ can also negatively affect the most marginalised. It may be that alongside already existing strategies of resistance, we might also consider other ways of engaging, of seeking to understand the complexity of each other. The Beyond Opposition project is focusing on understanding the experiences of those with a range of views in order to more deeply understand how their feelings of exclusion and ostracisation can fuel increasing polarisation. It isn’t about ideological debates or diminishing forms of activism that fight oppressions. The project is instead exploring how people live with or alongside others – colleagues, friends, siblings, partners – who disagree. The project is exploring what we can learn when we listen to these experiences.
We still need to know more! Please complete our questionnaire, which is open to everyone: www.beyondopposition.org/questionnaire/. Tell us how you feel about people who hold different views to you. We’re also keen to speak to those who have issues with same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ rights, those who are prolife and/or would describe themselves as ‘gender critical’. Do share our website with anyone in your network, your families or friends and they can participate in confidential interviews and questionnaires.
www.beyondopposition.org
