LGBT Awards

[cosmolinguist]

"Urrrrgh," I moaned resignedly.

James asked me what's up.

bisexualindex tweeted about something called the British LGBT Awards that currently open for nominations. As usual with these things, I thought I'd try to shock them by mentioning some bisexuals.

"But to nominate anyone you have to click on the category you're nominating for and after looking at the first few I think I've lost the will to live," I told James. "It starts Corporate Rising Star, Corporate Straight Ally...and it's not even like it's alphabetical or anything, because next is LGBT Network Group and then Diversity Champion..." I shuddered. So much wrong here.

"Are there any categories for just someone who's bisexual or gay or something?" James asked.

"Well, there are the vague ones, like Inspirational Role Model and Global Icon, which could mean just about anything," I said. James agreed they're so vague some celebrity will probably still win. Even though, as well as LGBT Celebrity, celebrities also have their own Rising Star and Straight Ally* categories. Because of course they do.

"And there's LGBT Event or Venue," I said. And...Destination? So probably more places will win awards than bisexual people."

"Yeah: 'We didn't give awards to any bisexuals, but we did give one to Brighton!' " James said. " 'And the Costa del Sol because maybe we'll get a free trip there!' "

"Media Moment" gets an award, whatever the fuck that means. Fucking "Brand/Marketing Campaign" gets an award. The logo-splattered name-dropping website says "WE REACH MORE PEOPLE THAN ANY OTHER LGBT EVENT IN THE UK," which just makes me wish I could do better. (If I were going to have an LGBT awards event, I'd start out with four awards for each of the letters, so that at least one goddam lesbian, gay man, bisexual and trans person was recognized. Then probably the same for organizations -- so Stonewall could win the gay man's award and then have to sit and watch while other things were talked about, heh. And then a bunch of awards for marginalized groups that intersect with queerness: people of color, disabled people, older people, people who have been and have done something for poverty, homelessness, abuse, etc as they relate to LGBT people...)

There was one category that actually seemed to have anything to do with what I wanted to nominate: Charity or Community Initiative (for which I nominated Bi's of Colour because so little is acknowledged/researched/understood about this intersection, and applewriter is doing amazing work with little money or other resources...

Seriously, please consider throwing a few pennies to their gofundme; there's no money at all in anything to do with bisexuality in the UK so everything's done by volunteers and, being bisexual, we face higher rates of mental illness, homelessness, abuse, and so on, so we've got a lot of shit going on that keeps a lot of us from holding down high-paying jobs!.

You know, the kinds of jobs that would make us anyone's Corporate Rising Star.


* I really hope straight trans people win the Straight Ally awards. Because they don't say you have to be straight and cis! The use of "straight" for "the opposite of LGBT" seems to me the sign of someone who's done a mental find-and-replace of "gay" for "LGBT," but who hasn't thought through the implications of what that change should actually involve. Not only is it showing a disgusting lack of understanding of gender identity being different from sexual identity that has frustrated trans folk forever...but also "straight" is hardly the opposite of bisexual, either! Bisexuality always complicates this us-and-them straight-and-gay shit (which I think is part of the reason some LG people are so biphobic).

Having awards for "allies" is not a great idea anyway, because it's such a problematic and easily-misunderstood concept if it is to mean anything at all -- I tend to assume it means "person who donated enough money that they can feel good about their privilege", in this kind of glitzy-award context? -- but if you must have such things can't you just call them "non-LGBT allies"? Or not even "allies," then, just "non-LGBT people who..." who've done whatever it is you get a Straight Ally award for, I don't even know.

Comments

[davidgillon]

Sounds remarkably like the set of awards for 'disability' run by the recruitment industry. Big night out with a chance to pat themselves on the back for another year of successful condescending.

[cosmolinguist]

Oh indeed. I'm sure any marginalized group gets this same dehumanizing bollocks once they attract enough corporate money.

[miss_s_b]

This. All of this. ALL OF IT.

[syntaxofthings]

Awards for allies? Don't people who fit the norm get enough accolades anyway?

I hear you. You are making excellent points, and your frustration and rage are valid.

[cosmolinguist]

I know right. Heaven forbid queer people have a whole evening, a whole event, that's just about us!

[mrs-leroy-brown.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link - have donated and nudged Steve as well :)

[cosmolinguist]

Oh that's awesome! Thanks so much xx