As a trans white woman, tbh I remember when the discussion was that privileged people should be amplifying minority voices and talking points, and at least on the axes I’m oppressed along I stand by that position. A lot of people are unwilling to listen to me about my humanity, but they are a hell of a lot more likely to listen to my cis relatives.
Also those discussions can be exhausting for the affected and having the non affected doing 101 level talks with each other spares me them.
Fellow white transfem here, I definitely agree that there’s a time and place for unaffected people to advocate for a minority.
That said, if I’m being charitable to OP, there are absolutely times when minorities get talked over in ways that really suck.
I once attended a listening circle/support group that came together as a piece of transphobic legislation was likely to pass in my state. I went, expecting a good mix of trans folks and allies, and that we’d be coming together to vent our frustrations and figure out a way forward.
But what I got instead was a room full of mostly cis people, talking over the trans people in the room, and being all sad and morose, like the bill in question was already a foregone conclusion. Like the trans people in the room were a lost cause to mourn, rather than worth helping.
And that… Sucked! That bill didn’t pass, but it wasn’t because any of the cis people in that room did anything to help.
As a trans white woman, tbh I remember when the discussion was that privileged people should be amplifying minority voices and talking points, and at least on the axes I’m oppressed along I stand by that position. A lot of people are unwilling to listen to me about my humanity, but they are a hell of a lot more likely to listen to my cis relatives.
Also those discussions can be exhausting for the affected and having the non affected doing 101 level talks with each other spares me them.
Fellow white transfem here, I definitely agree that there’s a time and place for unaffected people to advocate for a minority.
That said, if I’m being charitable to OP, there are absolutely times when minorities get talked over in ways that really suck.
I once attended a listening circle/support group that came together as a piece of transphobic legislation was likely to pass in my state. I went, expecting a good mix of trans folks and allies, and that we’d be coming together to vent our frustrations and figure out a way forward.
But what I got instead was a room full of mostly cis people, talking over the trans people in the room, and being all sad and morose, like the bill in question was already a foregone conclusion. Like the trans people in the room were a lost cause to mourn, rather than worth helping.
And that… Sucked! That bill didn’t pass, but it wasn’t because any of the cis people in that room did anything to help.
That’s fair, and yeah I’ve definitely had those interactions as well, plenty of times even.