Intersectionality In Queer Politics

Cohen argues that intersectionality goes beyond inclusive politics and extends to the formation of transformational agendas. Intersectionality has become a buzzword in recent years especially in critiques of white feminism. This has resulted in a lost of understanding about what the word truly means. Cohen reminds us that intersectional politics are not the simple inclusion of all identities but rather, politics that hold a deep understanding of marginalized identities, the ways they intersect with one another, and the implications of those intersections. She focuses on the failures of queer politics while emphasizing the radical potential of the movement. By nature, queer politics should aim to deconstruct the systems of domination that press its supporters. She critiques civil rights and liberal politics for trying to fit into hegemonic systems instead of trying to dismantle them. Queer politics as its best, considers the matrix of domination and works to protect marginalized queer individuals equally. Queer is non-normative by definition however, queer politics legitimizes normative practices by fighting to be included in them. Cohen (1997) argues that, “instead of destabilizing the assumed categories and binaries of sexual identity, queer politics has served to reinforce simple dichotomies between heterosexual and everything queer” (438). By valuing this dichotomy, queer politics ignores that intersection of marginal identities. Separating everything on the basis of queer or straight

Civil rights strategies do not challenge the moral and antisuxual underpinnings of homophobia, because homophobia does not originate in our lack of full civil quality. Rather, homophobia arises from the nature and construction of the political, legal, economic, sexual, racial and family systems within which we live (Cohen 1997:442,