Yesterday I spoke with a wonderful person at The Marlborough, and we were discussing how people need to accept their privileges in order to understand how other people do suffer. And it got me thinking about my own.
I know I’m white, and this means that I’m less likely to be attacked by strangers, less likely for me to be abused because I’m queer and my opinion is more likely to be listened to and treated with respect. THIS I WAS TOTALLY AWARE OF. We live in a shit world that because of a persons colour they will be treated differently and white people will always have the final say, regardless of whether its right or wrong.
I also live in a town and country where I’m less likely to be abused then if I was a trans queer person in a majority of other places. This doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, but I am able to at least step outside my own door from time to time. This isn’t possible for many queer people out there.
There was one other thing I discovered, where I do get read male by friends and society (not by choice, because I less than pass, but more because I work in a masculine environment and have paper work calling me Mr) I am not slut shamed for my public non monogamy. I am not told to my face that being in a relationship with 2 people is wrong, and in fact people often want to talk to me about it. I’m not called a slut or a whore, I’m not told that I need to choose which partner and I am often praised for being “brave” to discuss my relationships and display them so openly. And this is because I’m seen as male. White and male.
I know its tough to talk about your own privileges and as white people we get defensive over this. We need to be honest and take good looks in the mirror and realised that we get away with far more than any person of colour , and especially much more than queer people of colour. We need to start creating honest dialogue and start realising that we not only need to educate other people on privilege but we need to educate ourselves too.
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Tyler Charles Austen 