In these two chapters the authors of Queer (In)Justice further make the point that society is flawed and still struggles to accept the LGBT community. Starting with the prison system, the authors argue that homosexuals and transgender are constantly being abused and humiliated. Outside of prison, homosexuals and transgender people are facing challenges from society left and right. Not only from people who take it upon themselves to hurt others through hate crimes bur also through the actual people who have sworn to protect the innocent, police. It is no argument that society is flawed along with our legal system. Prisons were created with the idea of "repent.. through hard labor, silence, studying the scriptures and corporal punishment"(94). Prison was created in order to punish people however, how do we create a safe environment for people who do not fall under the norm?
During class, we talked about how all of these acts are unjust and how they can actually affect us at a more personal level. And so my remaining question is what do we do?
The authors presented countless statistics and personal stories that personally touched me and I am sure it did the same to many others. Then what do we did with this information? Do we ignore it and go back to our normal lives? Or do we take this information and work towards a better society?
On thing that I wanted to present to the class was information on the Transgender Day Of Remembrance. On November 20, people across the globe recognize transgender people who were killed for being transgender. Perhaps this is the beginning step. Acknowledging those who have been killed for being themselves.
ReplyDeleteLizabeth, you raise a lot of really tough, “now what?” kinds of questions, which I think is fitting because at the end of chapter seven, we are kind of left with these questions looming in our minds. Now that the authors have presented extensive evidence that the police and criminal legal system may never be a safe avenue for LBTQ people, people of color, and people of both parties, what are other avenues that can be used? I think that the criminal legal system needs serious reform, so much so that I think it needs to be torn down and rebuilt from the ground up, but I don’t know how that could happen or if it is at all realistic. It seems like safety and a reporting system for crimes might need to happen on a more communal level for those who cannot trust the criminal legal system. Community groups centered around safety and violence prevention, especially for LGBTQ people, could be a better alternative to using the criminal legal system. However, this kind of alternative could also have flaws because of the issue of access. Right now, police officers are just a phone call away from most places in the United States, but it would be very difficult for that to be true of community safety and violence prevention groups.
In conclusion, I don’t know what the answer is. But I think talking about these things and exploring alternatives is important because it can help us as community members imagine different ways of dealing with crime and violence against LGBTQ and people of color.
I completely agree that reading these personal stories from prison and outside of prison has affected me on a personal level along with many other readers. It is also very scary to think about how corrupt and racist some police members are. They are supposed to be the one organization that nobody is afraid to call, they are supposed to be the one organization that puts any kind of racism and prejudice aside and serves the public equally. The police are meant to maintain order in our streets and yet they cause more crime and have become judges, juries, and executioners. The question of “now what?” is a very big a serious question to answer. I cannot completely answer what to do or how to fix society but I think the best step forward would be to educate, inform and help others to understand other people, other traditions, customs and beliefs. Many people are still struggling with racism and hate simply because they have never been taught any other way. I personally think taking this class would be a great step in the right direction. Or even simply making some of these books required readings at school would be a tremendous start. I am not sure what the “solution” should be, but I think educating more people would be a great start.
ReplyDeleteThe easiest thing to do in response to all of the brutal injustices that we have learned about in this reading is to close the book, close our eyes, and walk away pretending that the world is not on fire. But we know that this is not a realistic option for those who are victimized by state and institutional violence and it shouldn’t be an option for those who have any sense of a moral compass. The depressing fact is that far too often groups and individuals who find themselves an opening to obtaining privilege will turn their backs on further marginalized groups or even push them into the fire. Our society is sick. Our country was funded as a cancerous tumor that survives on the exploitation and control of those who do not participate or are rejected by the disease.
ReplyDeleteIn the chapter “False Promises” the authors illustrate the faults in demanding protection from a system that is already sick. Hate crime legislation that is meant to protect those who are most targeted can actually be “twisted into yet another weapon to systematically criminalize people of color, including LGBT people of color” (129). When this legislation isn’t being used to target the same people it’s meant to protect, it has still proved to be ineffective because people cannot trust a system that they are taught to fear (131). On Transgender Day of Remembrance Tobi Hill-Meyer took the time to call out the hopeless system for what it is, “Sentencing enhancements won’t get police to investigate crimes they don’t take seriously to begin with” (144).
It is impossible to forget the centuries of damage and neglect that our current system has inflicted on people of color and those with “non-conforming” identities. It is not enough to reform or to add “protections” to the system that was founded on a legacy of violence and exploitation, but instead we must come together to reform the system to reflect unity and resistance. In the last chapter the authors highlight the efforts of some groups who are working to protect people in their communities as well as working to transform the system into one that doesn’t require groups to seek protection from the system itself.
In order to create a safe environment for LGBT individuals, we must abandon the broken promises of reconciliation between us and the police/prison system, for it will not save us. While creating extra prison wings for gays, lesbians, and trans people will not appease the violent wrath of transphobia and heteronormativity, voting for LGBT individuals who wish to be county sheriffs—thus catalyzing possible forms of intra-community violence—will not subvert the sexed and gendered caste system that we suffer under. Instead of reforming the system, we must transform the system; in order to transform the system, we must embrace nihilism and destroy it without mercy, using the same lack of mercy that our oppressors had when they beat us, called us f*gs, spit in our faces, thrashed us around after putting us behind bars, and ultimately murdered us. Capitalism and abuse with a rainbow smiley face haphazardly slapped onto it is nevertheless capitalism and abuse.
ReplyDeleteHowever, our safety and healing does not end at—and with—the destruction of the institutions that perpetuate homo/transphobia. In the meantime (and after “The Revolution), us queers and trans people must love one another, educate one another (e.g., white queers being informed about the horrors that their trans sisters of color face), and train each other to resist both state violence (e.g., the police and prison-industrial complex) and intra-community violence (e.g., homonationalism). We must assume the role of the guerilla warrior, using our knowledge and bases (e.g., LGBT-run clinics, drug treatment facilities, therapy centers, “know your rights” trainings, hotlines, etc.) as a sharp weapon that will pierce the heart of oppression and strike it to its death so that we will no longer falter under its crushing weight.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the late post, again!
So this book has generated a lot of really great discussion and I don’t even know where to begin anymore because I have so many thoughts going through my head.
I think, when it comes to prisoners who do not fall under the norm, it really comes down to the fact that the entire system needs changing. No one is being “helped” in prison, everyone is suffering, many just suffer more than others. Restorative justice is what comes to mind as possible solutions, and better living environments that don’t create areas of violence and hate. A system that listens to people who are struggling as well. For example, the man at the beginning of the chapter who tried so hard to file Life Endangerment Claims and they were all denied?!?!?! That really shouldn’t happen.
If we are to change the whole prison system, we need the peoples voice to rise up, and for everyone to start realizing that criminals aren’t bad people they just need some help. Maybe if we stopped putting so much money into war and military (or something else we really dont need) we could being t re-structure the system. Another big issue I have with the internal system, besides the racism that puts people in it, are mandatory minimums. Theres no need for people to spend so much time in prison, espescially when were not doing anything inside to help them. Ugh, I could rant forever, this chapter brought up too many injustices that are going to be huge struggles for us all.
Is there anything we can all do for the Day of Remembrance? I know there was an event during that day, but is there anything we could all go out and do that night or something? I know a lot of us have class, but if you guys are all down we should discuss it next class period, I would love to have another bonding moment that doesnt involve shooters outside our classroom.
In all honesty, I do not what to do entirely. There are many activist groups and actions in order to combat inequality, but I think it begins by recognizing the similarities between society and prison. Typically, we think of prison as a whole other world, which is understandable. What the author points out though, is because of segregation this leads to several cases of prison abuse. Guess what? Segregation is still present in society today! That is unbelievable not only considering how broken the criminal justice system is, but how our lives in or out of prison are dictated. In society, we usually have gender roles which is one of the main contributors to unequal opportunities. Prison is a surprisingly similar process where criminals are put in certain areas according to their sexuality. So given this evidence, my idea of taking action would be to identify how communities are constantly mistreated even with non-criminals. What do you guys think?
ReplyDelete“Now what?” is always a tough question. This is especially hard on the topic of already marginalized groups, where the system doesn’t seem to want to acknowledge the violence that is experienced and to fix legal systems that exclude the protection of these groups.
ReplyDeleteThe reading did state that prison models were formed under the context of reforming originally, “Penitentiaries, derived from the word penitence…. (94).” Then from there in the US to rehabilitate criminals (94), and they seem to still sort of be under that idea but the reformation seems to be based around sex, which again brings back the theories of Warner for me. So maybe a start would be to start creating a culture that is less sexually repressed and a culture that doesn’t reward violence of any sort, how that occurs is more difficult. I believe in class we’ve discussed that sharing our knowledge is a good start.
In chapter six it was mentioned in a study in Minnesota that it took nine years to see a small decrease of negative interactions responses from LGBT community with law enforcement despite efforts from many anti-violence activists (131). I don’t know if this should be considered under small wins or not. It seems a great idea to work so diligently with the police to inform on violence and the queer populations, yet the success rate is very small in breaking the culture that is already strongly preexisting. In the end knowledge is power right? So just keep spreading knowledge about these injustices? Sorry to answer a question with a question, but this is about the best I can come up with as an answer.
It is very difficult to conclude learning about an issue in class that is still going on without struggling with the idea of well, now what do we do? Knowing all the things we know, and being exposed to the sometimes very despairing truth, how do we get these things to stop happening in our lives and how do we get things to start looking up? In all honesty, I do not know, and I think nobody knows because these things are still prevalent but I do not think that the answer then is to accept our unknowing and turn our backs on these injustices forever.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find especially compelling from the reading is this idea that many different movements to help end this violence, "envision and work toward abolition of prisons and police as we currently know them" (157). The fact that the system has been a key factor in the mistreatment of marginalized communities that it needs to be gotten rid of entirely is something hard to wrap my brain around. However, the more I read and the more I learn about these issues and topics the more I see how necessary this just might be. If our system itself can never be perfect, and is always arguably going to be flawed then maybe justice comes by ridding ourselves from the restraints of the policing system. How we do that, I am not sure but maybe it is only when this radical idea comes into practice that justice can be achieved.
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ReplyDeleteLizbeth, I am so sorry to only respond to you now. I am the worst student, and friend, ever.
ReplyDeleteTo this reading, the material, and these questions of yours, my first response is impulsive and reactionary. I want to shout, "Reform! Reform! Reform!" But the writers sense this coming and they shoot this response down as much too simplistic, writing, "The violence and punishment visited on LGBT prisoners 'are not anomalies,' and they cannot be eradicated through reform. They are deeply embedded in the fabric of the prison system, and perpetuated through queer criminalizing archetypes" (117). So, that's disheartening. But what I think they are attempting to portray in this passage -- and these chapters -- is that the experience of LGBTQ prisoners is wildly unjust, that prisons as an aspect of the criminal legal system are corrupted and biased. In response to your "Now, what do we do?" questions, I am prone to think we need to prevent LGBTQ citizens from being sent to prisons in the first place. The authors want to remind us that structural reform within prisons can't help. They give us examples that show typical measures that are meant to help queer prisoners (however few they may be) typically result in even worse discrimination, more violence, and more maltreatment. All of this hurtful behavior stems from criminalizing archetypes, which seem to blanket every aspect of our society, stopping not even at bars. It seems what we must do now is attack these archetypes at their roots. While I'm unsure how to completely eradicate these biases, it seems obvious that education and exposure are important first steps. Which is to say that we have already started in the process by taking this class and consuming this information. When it comes to step 2, I am probably just as clueless as the rest of us.
I think we need to work towards a better society and especially a better prison system. Our system is very fractured but I think it could be repaired. If we look at the severity of crimes and handle it in new ways then I think we could have a better society. Instead of putting every single person who does something wrong in jail we should make it the last resort instead of the first resort. Help those with drug addictions and community service for non server crimes. We put those in jail those select few who cannot be on the streets scubas repeat rapists and murderers. Or if we need to put people in jail we actually help them to be able to go into society and behave like normal people, restorative justice. I know in this chapter the authors say that reform is not a possibility but I think if we worked hard enough we could reform it.
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