I was interviewed for an article by Michael Noker in the TalkSpace Blog recently, discussing some of the different approaches and issues faced by LBGTQ+ activists when I was younger (the 1980s and 1990s) and today. An excerpt:

Noker: I’ve noticed a lot of emphasis on getting “woke” lately. There’s a sort of backlash against anyone who doesn’t care enough about the right things. People tend to call out would-be “slacktivists” as effective apologists. Is this new? How do you feel about it?

Cleary: These days everything is sped up because the dissemination of information and ideas is sped up. Issues that may have taken years to spread can become memes within days, and that’s when the backlash begins.

Humans are not great with nuance. Small differences in approach toward the same goals escalate into unbridgeable rifts in groups that would make tremendous allies, if only everyone would sit down and figure out what we have in common and how the strengths of one group can help the others.

In a way, the backlash is also coming from people my age who got exhausted through the process of fighting for a certain set of rights and get offended when we’re told we’re part of the problem. As an older, not-quite-so-active activist, I struggle to resist the urge to dismiss issues I haven’t experienced personally, and not to elevate the experiences I had into a mythos meaning I can be forgiven for any further transgressions.

I know a lot of older white gay men who believe the AIDS crisis gives them immunity from ever being criticized for their way of thinking. It’s really hard not to say, “Do you understand that every friend I had in 1988 is now dead?” That doesn’t help anything, though.

Check out the article at the link above, and let me know what you think.