Intersectionality: Gender, Race, and LGBTQ+ Issues

The term was coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw in the late 1980s to describe how social identities come together to constitute our collective identity, how oppressions and privileges overlap each other, and how systems of oppression and privilege interact each other. Knowing intersectionality is important because we know people experience gender, race, and LGBTQ+ identities at an intersection of complexity. In this article, we examine how intersectionality composes the experiences of marginalised groups, in particular those who experience multiple layers of discrimination through the intersection of their gender, race, and LGBTQ+ status.

What is Intersectionality?

Intersectionality is the term used to describe the idea that people are shaped by many and intersecting social identities, including race, gender and sexuality, class, nationality, physical and mental disabilities, etc. These identities cannot be isolated, nor can the challenges which attend them be understood independently. A Black woman who is also a member of the LGBTQ+ community has a different kind of discrimination to what a Black man or even a white member of the LGBTQ+ community might have. Intersectionality offers us the ability to see how different types of discrimination (racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc.) work together to each other, creating new problems for people with multiple identities.

Gender and Intersectionality:

One of the most obvious social identities touched by intersectionality is gender. Feminism has advanced in the battle for gender equality but rarely includes the unique experiences of women of color, LGBQ+ individuals, and other disadvantaged populace. For example, black, Latina, Indigenous, and Asian women are subjected to sexism and racism. Underpinning the limitations of a one-dimensional approach to gender equality are the experiences of transgender and gender non-conforming people, with particular attention paid to those from marginalized racial backgrounds.

Everywhere in one's life, families that have intersecting identities have an effect on people: these families have an effect on what some confused moron who may have stashed his Jungian books under his mattress calls 'the workplace.' On average, women of color also take home less than their white colleagues, yet they are at greater risk of violence and discrimination, too.

Race and Intersectionality:

Race is another piece of intersectionality, as it so heavily colors individuals’ lives and access to opportunities. For centuries, people of color have prevailed in systemic hurdles, perpetuating present cycles of poverty, reduced access to good healthcare, and increased susceptibility to violence and discrimination. On top of this systemic problem are additional issues from race, sexual orientation, and gender identity, coming together to make already existing vulnerabilities more pronounced.

One such example is the challenge that people of color within the LGBTQ+ community experience, particularly being people of color in the LGBTQ+ community in general – where racism and classism can provide further marginalization. Gender and racial minority identification may overlap with lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer identity to the point of creating discrimination from within both their racial communities and the LGBTQ+ community—so exclusionary feelings and a lack of safe and affirming spaces compound.

Intersectionality of LGBTQ+ Issues:

While LGBTQ+ identities are regularly or consistently discriminated against because of sexual orientation or gender identity, such discrimination is not experienced equally by all members of the LGBTQ+ community. Using intersectionality, the look at how LGBTQ+ people of color, like trans individuals in particular, are subject to higher rates of discrimination, violence, and poverty than white LGBTQ+ people.

Recent years have seen a trend of disproportionately high levels of violence and homicide against Black and Latino transgender women, according to a 2021 report from the Human Rights Campaign. Social and institutional systems often let down these communities time and again, keeping very real trauma and hardship in place, repeating vicious cycles. But without intersectionality, these issues won’t be adequately addressed, or LGBTQ + people of color will be left out.

Why Intersectionality Matters:

An intersectional lens makes it clear where to identify and dismantle systemic oppression—identifying and destructive complex realities that people with intersecting identities face. Knowing that a black lesbian will have unique struggles that far exceed what a white lesbian or straight black woman will endure, for instance, helps to develop policies, advocacy, and social services that are more all-encompassing.

Intersectionality also shows how sometimes, in advocacy, marginalized voices within movements aren’t being heard. For example, the feminist movement has frequently found particular focus on the experiences of white, middle-class women over the experiences of women of color and LGBTQ women. Likewise, the movement for LGBTQ+ rights has often been vilified for directing attention on the problems affecting white, cisgender gay men and women while remaining blind to the realities of LGBTQ+ people of color and trans people. The key to these movements expanding their advocacy to include the needs and experiences their members is understanding intersectionality.

Moving Forward:

An Intersectional Approach:

In simply advocating and in crafting policy making, we must address intersectionality. It is to recognize that there are those who live multiple marginalized experiences and to address the particular experience of that. The framework should be used to design policies and social initiatives that take into account how race, gender, or LGBTQ+ identity gets worked into people’s lives.

With the intersectional perspective, we can also teach why people should know and respect different experiences in educational programs. But intersectionality also has application as we recruit and hire, how we mentor those who’ve not historically been in positions of power, and as we construct policies designed to avoid contracting and perpetuating discrimination and harassment. In healthcare, culturally prepared care that respects patients’ diverse needs based on their secondary identities is a directive that can come from it.

Conclusion:

Intersectionality goes beyond theory, it’s a living, breathing reality for untangling the interlocking oppressions of those who are marginalized. This involves looking at how the combined effects of the longer list of intersecting identities (gender, race, LGBTQ+) lead to creating a more inclusive society in which individual identities that are not represented are not ignored and the unique set of experiences people with dual or more marginalized identities face is recognized and addressed. Intersectionality means we can deconstruct systemic walls and promote inclusiveness, and no one is left behind in the fight for equality.