This short piece by Human Rights Watch examines the intersection of race, culture, sexuality, and identity. It discusses the importance of contextualizing identities and cautions us against making assumptions about a coherent group identity, based solely on a shared sexual orientation or gender identity. Similar to the warning voiced by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in her TED Talk, "The Danger of a Single Story" (found here), the author, Rasha Younes, argues that a homogenous LGBT community does not exist. Using examples from trans and queer individuals from the MENA region, the article stresses the need to investigate intersectional identities (such as socioeconomic and/or racial identities). "Our political movements are not about naming or claiming identities for the sake of being recognized or visible to a dominant gaze. They are primarily a fight for bodily autonomy, reproductive justice, access to socioeconomic power, and free mobility. Regardless of whether we form a community, we are the actors and the affected." Read more here!
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