Places like gay bars and cafes were made with the explicit purpose of creating a safe space for LGBTQ+ folk. We HAD to create safe spaces because so many straight people want to inflict harm on us or wish that we were exterminated. Being around you means we cannot be ourselves fully because we will always hesitate. We will always wonder “Are you one of the good ones?” We spend our lives tiptoeing around straight people wondering if we can be ourselves or if we have to hide it to protect us from the psychotic amount of negativity and hatred that we have to deal with for merely existing.
I don’t care if you’re one of the good ones or not. By simply being there you are changing the entire makeup of an LGBTQ+ space. You are adding in fear, apprehension and confusion into a place that was never supposed to have it. Moreover, you’re treating us like a novelty. Like we made this place for you to feel safe in. You are ignoring us and forcing us out of our own spaces. There are multiple “gay bars” that I have been to that no longer have predominately gay clientele and have started leaning towards advertising for straight people. Why? Because so many people showed up to “feel safe” that it pushed every single one of us out.
It isn’t for you. You do not belong there. Stop feeling and acting so entitled to a place that has nothing to do with you and that was made with the explicit purpose to be free from you. Give us back our spaces that we made for us and stop whining when we dare to say that.
Your feelings are not more important than our identity, safety and peace of mind.
Edit: Look at all the entitled straight people. Downvote me all you want. You are a genuinely shitty person if you go to a place that was made specifically to be free from you. You’re even worse if you’re trying to pretend you are anything but. At that point you’re lying to yourselves and us.
Maybe you should listen to the people part of that group though instead of feeling like you have the right to enter a space not designed for you, not for you and then turning us into a commodity for your own personal safety.
You piece of utter human garbage.
Hi everyone, OP’s either a troll or a poorly guided person. Exclusion has never worked. Safe spaces are not about insulating yourself from what you don’t agree with. Safe spaces are where you have support and protection from people who’d do you harm.
Exclude straights? What about bisexuals? What about bis in a hetero relationship? What about women, are you going to card them to see if they’re straight or not? What about hetero-presenting gays? You see how this works, right?
What about the “straights” who might be gay & are looking for support? OP apparently doesn’t support any LGBTQ+ person unless they fit their idea of what “gay” is. More than incisive, it’s absurd. Bordering on hilarious.
Something specific has clearly upset OP, and it’s not literally every heterosexual in the world. Heteros should be welcome in LGBTQ+ environments, and if you’re not into that kind of inclusion I’d like you to take a moment, suck a dick, and remember you are also responsible for creating a safe space for other LGBTQ+ people.
Additionally, what about ace/aro people? Het trans people? Cis/het gender-non-conforming people? And the one stated previously that really stood out to me: what about those questioning?
There’s no hard line between Us and Them and trying to draw one only hurts us. If there are people causing problems in these spaces, kick them out, but gatekeeping isn’t the right move here.