Being LGBT Without The “Community”

Despite proudly proclaiming how inclusive and accepting they are, the LGBT “community” doesn’t tolerate individualism.

“You have internalized homophobia.” 
“You’re supporting our oppressor.”
“The LGBT community doesn’t claim you.”

These are all things that have been said to me by LGBT “community” members after I had the audacity to express opinions that only slightly deviated from their orthodoxy. These responses are usually effective at controlling their target’s speech. Community members comply by shutting down, back-tracking, and apologizing after being confronted with the implied threat of exile. But these phrases never worked on me. Unfortunately for these dogmatists, I never considered myself a member of their “community”—or any community that bullies its members into conformity—in the first place.

How can you be kicked out of a club you never joined?

Since I was a teenager, being referred to as a member of a “community” didn’t sit well with me. It told me that I wasn’t being seen as an individual, and my thoughts, personality, and political beliefs were being assumed based on stereotypes. 

With that …