If there's one thing that marginalised and minority communities love, it's being told that their struggle really isn't as big as they make it seem. From seemingly the beginning of time, the haves have always talked down to the have-nots, explaining that the status quo's just fine, and they're blowing things out of proportion.
If you're a person of colour, woman in the workplace or anything other than a cis-hetero-white male, you've probably come across this in some form or another. And it's always pretty satisfying to watch the patronising party get shut down by something as definitive as facts.
With that in mind, let's take a look, shall we, at this particularly fascinating Twitter thread involving a man who told everyone what he thought of the LGBTQ+ community. Twitter user @thejustinallenn tweeted very simply last week: "the lgbt community is entirely way too sensitive."
The tweet was reasonably popular, getting around 2,600 likes and 750 retweets, but pay close attention and you'll see that as many as 900 people saw fit to respond to this allegation. Of course, people responded with GIFs, memes and jokes (this is the Internet, after all), but many more responded with something way more important: actual facts.
"The life expectancy of a Trans Woman in America is 35," explains @UNRULYFAG in one response, and it's just one response that encapsulates how hard it can be to be a member of the LGBTQ+ community, even though they've made massive strides in the last 50 years. Catherine Amayi responded directly to the original tweet with another point of view that's worth taking a look at.
"You'd be that 'sensitive' if you too were constantly dehumanized, paid less than your hetero peers if employed at all, faced the risk of murder just for existing, excommunicated from the community you knew your entire life. It's not being too sensitive. It's marking boundaries."
"Oh yeah not like we are killed , raped , harassed , and sexualized. don’t mind us being too sensitive because we still get treated unfairly," added @virulentluv, hopefully helping more people to learn more about the LGBTQ+ community in the process.
But, since this is Twitter, as I mentioned earlier there are quite a few jokes to be had as well. Here are just some of them.
Although the community's come a long way in a relatively short period of time, there's still a lot to do before LGBTQ+ citizens can feel fully a part of the world we live in. It's something that will surely come with time, as people grow wiser and more aware, and hopefully more accepting of their differences, viewing them not as choices, but as a way of life.
Until then, we're going to get outspoken opinions of the ilk of up here. And when that happens, you can bet the LGBTQ+ community will have one hell of a response ready.
