I am sorry but I cant agree with that. I am not a racist or homophobe and I fall into that heavily labelled oppressive group. Which rights do I enjoy that a gay person doesn't? Which rights do I, as an oppressive evil white straight man, hold that a woman doesn't or a trans person doesn't? Last time I checked the PM was a woman. Ireland (!) have a gay Taoiseach. There are 30+ openly gay MP's etc
Legally, few if any. Practically however, you have the right to walk down the street and not be seen as a sex object, a terrorist, or a threat to children's safety. You can walk around after dark in relative safety, knowing that you're unlikely to get raped or assaulted. You get to be who you are without people trying to "fix" you, or claiming you're just in denial. You know that if you talk to an authority figure they will help you, not kill you. You get to live your life without worrying too much what others think of you. You get to be blind to the difficulties that others face.
Yes, the PM is a woman, Ireland has a gay (I think ethnic minority) Taoiseach, and those are great things on a representational basis. The US had a black president. Then they elected a misogynistic racist to follow him. In France the Nazi candidate got 25% of the presidential vote. In Austria it was 45%. On a daily basis, May and Obama have to put up with vitriol that no white male politician experiences. Obama had to go through ten years of people refusing to believe that he was actually eligible to be president, of people claiming he was Muslim, of repeated racist attacks. May, Thatcher, Hillary Clinton, have to put up with interminable articles about how they dress, whether they smile enough, whether they are too feminine or not feminine enough. They get questions of who looks after the children, which would never be asked of a male politician.
Women make up around 52% of the population but, as of 2010, only 22% of MPs were women. 13% of people living in the UK are of ethnic minorities, but in 2010 only 4% of MPs were. The numbers are similar for directors of FTSE companies. Women, accounting for age, profession and experience, earn roughly 15% less than men, across the board. People of colour also generally earn less than white people.
You may not have any extra rights, but you sure as hell have privilege.
That isnt to say that there are not people with abhornet views who seek to attack people in the LGBT sphere. There are and they need sorting out. But idiots will always exist and will always find someone to attack. That isnt because of some mythical cisgender heterosexual white (Christian) misogyny, racism and/or homophobia - it is because they are idiots.
Oh, I'm not arguing they aren't idiots, but that position of power is where it all comes from. They feel they are entitled to lord it over other people, because that's how it used to be. The man used to be the boss of the household, as was laid down by god. The white man was the superior race, as was laid down by god. Those who are gay are an abomination and should be stoned to death, as was laid down by god. And so through the years society followed those structures, and now it's breaking down. People are angry over something, and that is a convenient way to lord it over someone.
My personal opinion this is that yes people can be Bi, gay or straight and they can have preferences for certain people, sex or persuasion but this move towards labelling everything is having the opposite affect that marginalised people want it to have.
For example why do I need to know if you enjoy sex or not. That is between you and who your partner or who ever else you choose to have relations with.
As far as gender is concerned I think that again labels are ridiculous and confusing which causes resentment and not acceptance that minorities need. I don't think anybody actually perfectly fits gender stereotypes anyway so in that case nobody is cisgender. For example i might act more traditionally masculine with some friends (drink beer, watch football) but then with other friends I act more feminine. Doesn't mean I have changed as a person though, I simply act different in different situations.
Cisgender means that your gender identity is the same as your sex. People can act differently in different situations sure, but for trans people it's more than that. It's a deep belief that the body they were born into is just
wrong. It's not about gender stereotypes- one can be a hyper-"masculine" personality but be a woman, or vice versa.
You're right, I don't need to know that you enjoy sex. But nor should I prevent you from sharing your desires if you wish to. People everywhere talk about who they love, who they fancy. LGBT people are no different in that. If you love someone you want to shout it from the rooftops. It doesn't matter who that person is. We want to be able to say who we love without encountering prejudice because that relationship isn't heterosexual.
