Queer-ing Politics: Reclaiming Bi and the Transgender

Are the voices of the lesbian, the gay, the bisexual and the transgender being heard?

The official website of the LGBT history month lays down its manifesto, an “opportunity for all of us to learn more about the histories of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Britain and Northern Ireland.” It involves “claiming our history, celebrating our present, creating our future!” It all sounds good, doesn’t it? Sadly, we are not convinced that this is entirely true.

Indeed, culture may now be seen to be working in favour of the gay or lesbian. We have a ‘gay scene’ in Cardiff, which provides an alternative to the mainstream hetero venues. We have gay radio stations in response to the hetero music. We even have celebratory gay festivals where we are encouraged to be out and proud. What about the bi or trans – where do these fit in? Quite simply, the shocking reality is, they don’t.

“Bisexuals are in denial”, “they are just kidding themselves”, “they are gays in disguise” – so back in the closet they are edging on Narnia. And transsexuals, well, they are just too weird to even think about, it opens up a whole new can of worms. We cannot merely back away from these problems. Gays were once marginalized in much the same way years back, yet why do we keep on hearing about how the bi and the trans cannot accept who they actually are, more often or not a “confused gay man?” It is because we cannot accept anything that goes beyond the neat little homo/hetero checkboxes.

We can no longer stick to these homo/hetero categories, we must actively embrace the politics of queer. It makes no sense to use the broadened terms of gay / straight: there will always be people who don’t fit into these categories. The entire way we think about sex is constructed by the culture in which we live. The bisexual and the trans simply don’t adhere to the way we like to think about sex. And this is liberating, something to be celebrated.

The bi and the trans are generally misunderstood by our culture – they refuse to be categorised. This is something we should be proud of. It is something we can progress with. Queer is a vibrant, exciting and colourful way to open up sexuality. And that’s why, collectively, we are here and we’re queer! So get used to it.