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Bianca Gao and Martin Huynh (Cohen)

According to Cohen, the heteronormativity of society inhibited the development of queer activism. Queers found motivation behind their activism from living of a life of struggle. They wanted to be represented not only in the political sense, but also in American culture. Cohen references Michael Warner who notes that the real push for rights from queers was the lack of acknowledgement from society. Their concerns were not recognized by the dominant group of society, those being white heterosexuals, and are therefore either forced to pretend to be straight or be stigmatized for their sexual orientation. This difference in power between the heterosexuals and “other sexes” demonstrates the disparity between the two, which influences what is considered the norm in society. Queers not only wanted to fight for the right to do what they pleased within their own homes, but more importantly, for the right of freedom for all; including sexuality, marriage, identity, etc. This is how the foundation of queer politics started, as a response towards the freedoms that were not given to them by the dominant heterosexual group.

Another reason behind the inhibition of queer politics is that individuals in the group suffer from multiple oppressions due to different identities they hold. These identities come from an individual’s; race, socioeconomic class, and gender. In the case of Cohen, she was a black lesbian feminist, which meant that she suffered oppressions from being African American, a woman, and a lesbian. By having multiple sufferings, it can create inconsistency to which identity to prioritize for an individual. However, this multi-struggle can lead to a combination of efforts to solve issues throughout many dimensions of the world. This becomes beneficial because recognizing multiple struggles creates a joint force to take down a greater power. Essentially, the multiple systems of oppressions unite the people to fight against the institutionalized categories created by the dominant group.