On Thursday evening Lauren Felton, a 22 year old queer activist and Rutgers student, committed suicide. I was privileged to know Lauren. She was the star of an LGBT studies class I taught at Rutgers. She was incredibly smart, sophisticated and committed to anti-racist and trans-positive queer politics. She organized Jews against the occupation. Her radical politics were an inspiration to me - her bravery and courage on campus and in class far surpassed mine. She was “out” in so many ways and in a repressive social and political climate like I have never been. I am so heartbroken for Lauren, her family and friends. I am heartbroken for selfish reasons, because Lauren was working to create the kind of world I want to live in. I wanted to post something Lauren wrote in the aftermath of Tyler Clementi’s suicide at Rutgers. Hopefully we can all take care of each other and take something from this devastating moment to live better right now. 

laurenfelton

In my opinion, it doesn’t just get better. Through the tools of social action, political organizing, and community building, we have the power to make our society better, and in the process, we get better. But as long as there is racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of prejudice in the world, no member of our community is free, and “it” hasn’t gotten better. Queer liberation will not happen until we see human liberation — until we stop meeting homophobia with racism and classism, until women are no loger blamed for being sexually assaulted, until our country stops fighting these endless wars, until Palestinians have stood at their very last checkpoint, until trans people are no longer cheated by organizations HRC, until intersex infants are no longer mutilated, until queer youth stop turning up dead… this campaign doesn’t address any of that. It simply suggests that somehow, magically, it gets better all on its own, despite the fact that we continue to live in an unequal society. 

(Source: bi-in-alberta)

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   i’m still in shock.

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    of… RIP Lauren Felton

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    On Thursday evening Lauren Felton,...22 year old queer activist

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    very informative response!...automatically because...some...

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    Dan Savage has a history of biphobia, sexism, transphobia, etc. I don’t have a problem with the campaign itself, but...

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    I dislike him largely because of his unrepentant racism, transphobia, misogyny, and white, male, gym-body privilege —...

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