From: Miles Jackson
As I said, this claim astounds me. How can you not see that heterosexuals are a socially privileged group compared to gays and lesbians? The research on discrimination against gays and lesbians clearly shows that they are a disadvantaged group, like the racial/ethic groups you describe. Just as people get beat up and denied rights on the basis of race, they are beat up and denied rights on the basis of sexual identity. Why do you say it's not "the same type"?
^^^^^^^ CB: There are more than a few socially privileged groups, but almost none of them are in the same category of type of privilege, oppression , etc. that makes up the institution of white supremacy.
To say what type a thing is, we look its history and composition. I am sure you are familiar with the history of white supremacy. Excerpts from the U.S. are genocidal oppression and usurpation of land from indigenous peoples, placed on reservations; slave trade, slavery, Jim Crow, ghettoization for Africans. Usurpation of Mexican lands, discrimination. Etc. This is a different type and scale of oppression and exploitation than the discrimination against sexual identities.
According to gay historians, there wasn't a special category of homosexual until the late 1800's. Before that same sexers weren't even a specially separated out and recognized group , according to this logic. So how were they subjected to the oppression and exploitation that the Indigneous Peoples or Africans were in America ?
People get beat up because they are fat or skinny or "ugly" or bookish too. These prejudices are not of the same type as racism. I don't know that police officers' identifying someone as gay is likely to trigger their "mistakenly" shooting him 41 times.
The repressive apparatus of the state is involved in enforcing white supremacy in a qualitiatively different way than it is in prejudice against gays. The prison population is disproportionately Black, not disproportionately gay ( going in, I mean).
There is no significant segregated residency pattern for gays.
Not all prejudices are of the same social import and impact as white supremacy.
If you are so astounded, why don't you do a survey of Black people and ask them if they think racism and socalled heterosexism are the same type of thing.