In this short clip, transgender woman activist Laverne Cox talks about how the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA) movement has lost touch with its liberation history. She notes that Latina-American transgender activist Sylvia Rivera warned in the late 1960s and early 1970s that the LGBTQIA movement should not become focused on White middle class issues, which is what has happened.
What is especially beautiful about Cox’s argument is that she succinctly demonstrates that the modern focus on gay pride comes at the expense of the inclusion of people of colour and transgender people. She shows this is an outcome of capitalism and White supremacy within the LGBTQI movement.
The Other Sociologist 