Violence Against Queer People By Doug Meyer
Book Review In Violence against Queer People: Race, Class, Gender and the Persistence of Anti LGBT Discrimination, Doug Meyer, through 8 chapters describes his research of LGBT community members and the circumstances they are put in while living their daily lives. This book is written for readers hoping to learn about inequality based on race, class, gender, and sexuality. At the beginning of the book, Meyer introduces the idea that violent LGBT experiences are rooted in more than just homophobia, more specifically with African- American LGBT people. Homophobia plays a role in many forms of anti-queer violence as well as other factors of their identity, “Although most emphasis on anti-LGBT, or anti-queer, violence has focused on homophobia,
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many LGBT people confront violence based on other aspects of their identity, including race, class, and gender” (Meyer 11). Meyer likes to jump from person to person he interviewed that identify as LGBT, and tell us about a specific event in their life that had to do with violence against them. One person he wrote about was a gay black man who is confronted by police and accused of shoplifting because he fit a description. Not only did he not shoplift but he was later taken in for having an illegal substance in his pocket, he was initially questioned about his supplier but then he was questioned about his gender performance. Once he responded to the officer’s questions in a smart aleck manner he was assaulted by the officer and hurt. He also focuses on interviews related to when one’s identity played a role in the way they were assaulted. Specifically, gender conformity, women are assaulted for not acting, dressing, or speaking like a woman or man and are met with misogyny and or derogatory words, such as ‘dyke’ or ‘faggot’. Acts such as kissing and hand holding result in different consequences that are dependent on the gender and sexual orientation of the person involved. Sexualities such as lesbianism and male homosexuality are associated with gender nonconformity while gender conformity is associated with heterosexuality. Why should one need to conform to their “gender” in order to not be met with this type of violence? First of all, they want them to conform to social norms women act feminine and fragile while men act masculine and tough. Women are dependent of men who are independent. Those who are received with a violence were more than likely targeted because “they performed gender in less traditional ways than their significant other— that is, because they appeared as gender- nonconforming in their presentation of self,” (Meyer 18). According to Meyer, misogyny and sexism give a more in depth understanding of lesbians’ intense experience where homophobia offers an incomplete perspective.
His focus in a later chapter is race and how white and blacks view violence towards them differently but mainly how whites tend to overlook race being a reason and blacks believe it is an important factor in theirs, “LGBT people of color perceived anti-queer violence as punishing them for “betraying” their racial groups, while white lesbians and gay men did not view their violent experiences in this way” (44) and having different violent experiences based on the gender identities. A woman viewed as more masculine is attacked for having supposedly “turn” her girlfriend lesbian while a man is seen as being weak. These are just interpretations made by outsiders who cannot relate to their situations, whom are of the same race. Despite the differences between both the man and woman the victims think they are being punished for negatively representing their racial communities. Another focus of Meyer’s, is on gendered views and their connection to sexual assault, physical violence and verbal abuse.
His main focus, is on how women who were lesbian or transgender were more likely to be sexually assaulted then men. Do you want against states that the dominant strain of research on intake we are violence with has focused on homophobia, overlooking the role of sexism in the misogyny” (65)? He keeps going back to this idea that women are more easily targeted then men and met with this dislike of women and they are met with acts of assault and violence. This comes up in our culture even today after all of these laws that are being passed for LGBTQ people. For example, an associated researcher at Tufts University, Dyan Mazurana states “It is different for LGBT victims because everyone in the compound becomes a risk to you. Especially when you are posted in isolated situations, you have to be much more closeted than you would in your own country as you could be targeted for death,” (Edwards) further giving evidence towards Meyer’s research in that not only are they affected here in the United States and met with misogynistic prejudice but also around the world where they even have to protect their own identity or else be met with
death. Meyer goes on to contradict his statement at the beginning of the book, and how homophobia is the root of the violence LGBT people are receiving. He further goes on to say that Homophobia dismisses a white gay man’s discrimination experiences. And also, how his own students believe that him being a gay man discredit him from teaching homophobia in such a way that they believe he is forcing his own opinion on homophobia onto his own student. I do not believe his students are wrong in the way that he’s very repetitive about how homophobia is not a basis in any LGBT violence encounter. He further helps a white man’s case in homophobia by stating that they will not ever experience a racist sexist classist form of violence, “Indeed, while white gay men certainly experience homophobia, we are undoubtedly privileged based on our race and gender identities, and, depending on our wealth and income levels, perhaps our social class position as well” (102). Towards the end of his book, Doug Meyer begins to bring class into perspective. He begins to compare scenario’s where both were violent experience were interpreted on how severe they thought their occurrences came across to them. “LGBT people’s perceptions are shaped as much by their social class position as by the type of violence they confront. Looking …, one would expect low-income LGBT people of color to perceive their experiences as the most severe... Yet, because of the effects of social class, low-income LGBT people were the least likely to view their violent experiences as severe” (104-105) these people are at two different ends of the spectrum. Those interviewed coming from a low-income background who were actually beat to the point of blood being shed or bruising responded with phrases such as: it could have been worse or it wasn’t so bad. Comparing themselves to other they knew in their social class who received a more horrible response towards their sexual orientation. While those interviewed coming from a middle class or higher background felt attacked with only name calling or being told that what they were was ‘really bad’ but saw this as an attack on them. Meyer bring valid points in that social class and ethnic background have all to do with how one interprets situations such as these, most stories you hear about someone coming out who are well off and popular are received with love and affection, while those who are poor and “a nobody” are received with resentment and hatred by their peers and family.
Meyer goes on to conclude that overall anti-queer violence is caused by multiple systems of oppression. Systems that differ based on race, class, gender identity. Where lesbians overall encountered violence that was both sexist and homophobic and Butch lesbians were accused of converting feminine women into homosexuality. Black gay men faced violence against their race and sexuality; black lesbians shared similarities with their male counterparts in that they both believed that they should be representing their racial groups in a more positive way and not identify as LGBT, something that white LGBT’s did not face. Still, lesbian’s experiences differed from that of a gay man, in that they more often faced sexual assault and sometimes even domestic violence from heterosexual men. Transgender's had their own issues with violence towards them, their violence was viewed separately from prejudice and discrimination and instead they were treated in dehumanizing ways such as being constructed as objects, widespread job discrimination, and sometimes even sex work. Overall Meyer brings valid correlations between one’s race, class, gender and sexuality. However, I found it hard to follow along throughout each chapter, with all the people he interviewed, they were all mentioned multiple times throughout the book but I found myself merging them into one for each race and gender instead of the 47-different people he interviewed. He makes a statement in the final chapter: “My analysis could be expanded upon to include other dimensions of inequality, such as age, religion, or immigration status, yet the larger point is that the mainstream gay rights movement needs to move beyond single-issue advocacy that focuses solely on sexuality” (144), and I believe these dimensions could have altered his correlations made but also refine them and make them more accurate. Generally, his book was written in a way that you knew what the chapter was about overall, but it was a tough read and could only be fully appreciated by someone who is used to reading books written about this subject.
Works Cited
Edwards, S. (2017, June 06). LGBT, female aid workers at risk of sexual assault, report finds. Retrieved October 12, 2017, from https://www.devex.com/news/lgbt-female-aid-workers-at-risk-of-sexual-assault-report-finds-90428
Meyer, D. (2015). Violence against queer people: race, class, gender, and the persistence of = anti-LGBT discrimination. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
many LGBT people confront violence based on other aspects of their identity, including race, class, and gender” (Meyer 11). Meyer likes to jump from person to person he interviewed that identify as LGBT, and tell us about a specific event in their life that had to do with violence against them. One person he wrote about was a gay black man who is confronted by police and accused of shoplifting because he fit a description. Not only did he not shoplift but he was later taken in for having an illegal substance in his pocket, he was initially questioned about his supplier but then he was questioned about his gender performance. Once he responded to the officer’s questions in a smart aleck manner he was assaulted by the officer and hurt. He also focuses on interviews related to when one’s identity played a role in the way they were assaulted. Specifically, gender conformity, women are assaulted for not acting, dressing, or speaking like a woman or man and are met with misogyny and or derogatory words, such as ‘dyke’ or ‘faggot’. Acts such as kissing and hand holding result in different consequences that are dependent on the gender and sexual orientation of the person involved. Sexualities such as lesbianism and male homosexuality are associated with gender nonconformity while gender conformity is associated with heterosexuality. Why should one need to conform to their “gender” in order to not be met with this type of violence? First of all, they want them to conform to social norms women act feminine and fragile while men act masculine and tough. Women are dependent of men who are independent. Those who are received with a violence were more than likely targeted because “they performed gender in less traditional ways than their significant other— that is, because they appeared as gender- nonconforming in their presentation of self,” (Meyer 18). According to Meyer, misogyny and sexism give a more in depth understanding of lesbians’ intense experience where homophobia offers an incomplete perspective.
His focus in a later chapter is race and how white and blacks view violence towards them differently but mainly how whites tend to overlook race being a reason and blacks believe it is an important factor in theirs, “LGBT people of color perceived anti-queer violence as punishing them for “betraying” their racial groups, while white lesbians and gay men did not view their violent experiences in this way” (44) and having different violent experiences based on the gender identities. A woman viewed as more masculine is attacked for having supposedly “turn” her girlfriend lesbian while a man is seen as being weak. These are just interpretations made by outsiders who cannot relate to their situations, whom are of the same race. Despite the differences between both the man and woman the victims think they are being punished for negatively representing their racial communities. Another focus of Meyer’s, is on gendered views and their connection to sexual assault, physical violence and verbal abuse.
His main focus, is on how women who were lesbian or transgender were more likely to be sexually assaulted then men. Do you want against states that the dominant strain of research on intake we are violence with has focused on homophobia, overlooking the role of sexism in the misogyny” (65)? He keeps going back to this idea that women are more easily targeted then men and met with this dislike of women and they are met with acts of assault and violence. This comes up in our culture even today after all of these laws that are being passed for LGBTQ people. For example, an associated researcher at Tufts University, Dyan Mazurana states “It is different for LGBT victims because everyone in the compound becomes a risk to you. Especially when you are posted in isolated situations, you have to be much more closeted than you would in your own country as you could be targeted for death,” (Edwards) further giving evidence towards Meyer’s research in that not only are they affected here in the United States and met with misogynistic prejudice but also around the world where they even have to protect their own identity or else be met with
death. Meyer goes on to contradict his statement at the beginning of the book, and how homophobia is the root of the violence LGBT people are receiving. He further goes on to say that Homophobia dismisses a white gay man’s discrimination experiences. And also, how his own students believe that him being a gay man discredit him from teaching homophobia in such a way that they believe he is forcing his own opinion on homophobia onto his own student. I do not believe his students are wrong in the way that he’s very repetitive about how homophobia is not a basis in any LGBT violence encounter. He further helps a white man’s case in homophobia by stating that they will not ever experience a racist sexist classist form of violence, “Indeed, while white gay men certainly experience homophobia, we are undoubtedly privileged based on our race and gender identities, and, depending on our wealth and income levels, perhaps our social class position as well” (102). Towards the end of his book, Doug Meyer begins to bring class into perspective. He begins to compare scenario’s where both were violent experience were interpreted on how severe they thought their occurrences came across to them. “LGBT people’s perceptions are shaped as much by their social class position as by the type of violence they confront. Looking …, one would expect low-income LGBT people of color to perceive their experiences as the most severe... Yet, because of the effects of social class, low-income LGBT people were the least likely to view their violent experiences as severe” (104-105) these people are at two different ends of the spectrum. Those interviewed coming from a low-income background who were actually beat to the point of blood being shed or bruising responded with phrases such as: it could have been worse or it wasn’t so bad. Comparing themselves to other they knew in their social class who received a more horrible response towards their sexual orientation. While those interviewed coming from a middle class or higher background felt attacked with only name calling or being told that what they were was ‘really bad’ but saw this as an attack on them. Meyer bring valid points in that social class and ethnic background have all to do with how one interprets situations such as these, most stories you hear about someone coming out who are well off and popular are received with love and affection, while those who are poor and “a nobody” are received with resentment and hatred by their peers and family.
Meyer goes on to conclude that overall anti-queer violence is caused by multiple systems of oppression. Systems that differ based on race, class, gender identity. Where lesbians overall encountered violence that was both sexist and homophobic and Butch lesbians were accused of converting feminine women into homosexuality. Black gay men faced violence against their race and sexuality; black lesbians shared similarities with their male counterparts in that they both believed that they should be representing their racial groups in a more positive way and not identify as LGBT, something that white LGBT’s did not face. Still, lesbian’s experiences differed from that of a gay man, in that they more often faced sexual assault and sometimes even domestic violence from heterosexual men. Transgender's had their own issues with violence towards them, their violence was viewed separately from prejudice and discrimination and instead they were treated in dehumanizing ways such as being constructed as objects, widespread job discrimination, and sometimes even sex work. Overall Meyer brings valid correlations between one’s race, class, gender and sexuality. However, I found it hard to follow along throughout each chapter, with all the people he interviewed, they were all mentioned multiple times throughout the book but I found myself merging them into one for each race and gender instead of the 47-different people he interviewed. He makes a statement in the final chapter: “My analysis could be expanded upon to include other dimensions of inequality, such as age, religion, or immigration status, yet the larger point is that the mainstream gay rights movement needs to move beyond single-issue advocacy that focuses solely on sexuality” (144), and I believe these dimensions could have altered his correlations made but also refine them and make them more accurate. Generally, his book was written in a way that you knew what the chapter was about overall, but it was a tough read and could only be fully appreciated by someone who is used to reading books written about this subject.
Works Cited
Edwards, S. (2017, June 06). LGBT, female aid workers at risk of sexual assault, report finds. Retrieved October 12, 2017, from https://www.devex.com/news/lgbt-female-aid-workers-at-risk-of-sexual-assault-report-finds-90428
Meyer, D. (2015). Violence against queer people: race, class, gender, and the persistence of = anti-LGBT discrimination. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.