It seems that whenever we talk about race and #BlackLivesMatter comes up, a whole lot of people get super, super uncomfortable. So, naturally, they resort to the common retort of #AllLivesMatter. However, that logic is, well, illogical.
We want everyone to do the important work of combatting racism in the LGBT and queer community, but also in the world at large, so we decided to compile some super helpful info to help out the #AllLivesMatter camp.
Because when you say #AllLivesMatter, whether you mean to or not, you’re being racist.
We also recognized the need to have a semi-comprehensive document of everything from examples to logical appeals to videos that we can send to our friends who seem a little stuck in the #AllLivesMatter camp.
First, we found some helpful analogies.
If u preach "All Lives Matter not just Black Lives" ur prob also someone who says they're "a humanist not a feminist" & u need to reevaluate
— everytime.mp3 (@jersing) July 7, 2016
"All lives matter" translated pic.twitter.com/4qGu8UV7ff
— WTNZ (@weteenzuk) July 7, 2016
i hope all you biased ignorants get this through your damn heads - black lives matter vs all lives matter summed up pic.twitter.com/H7bdx0N4fD
— chanel (@hslaurent) July 7, 2016
For the #AllLivesMatter idiots hopping in our mentions. Have a blessed day. pic.twitter.com/9HdgobYKbN
— Bossip (@Bossip) July 6, 2016
In case you need the facts straight up.
Of course ALL lives matter. But not all races were enslaved for over 200 years or needed a civil rights movement to be treated as humans.
— Albs (@AlbaMayo) July 7, 2016
BLACK LIVES MATTER. Yes, all lives matter, but right now I'm talking about BLACK LIVES and that they matter to me. STOP THE VIOLENCE.
— Blake Anderson (@UncleBlazer) July 7, 2016
Yes, "all lives" matter... But not "all lives" are being killed simply because of the colour of their skin. #BlackLivesMatter
— Kimmi きみ (@KimmiSmiles) July 7, 2016
Plus a super helpful video!
#BlackLivesMatter
the next time u wanna say "all lives matter*" understand what the movement is actually about pic.twitter.com/t6PiY32uc7— meme queen (@YOURERAClST) July 7, 2016
Because this *is* a queer issue.
I don't wanna see any Queer people saying all lives matter or downplaying police brutality with the history we have with them.
— move mojito! (@MADBLACKTWINK) July 6, 2016
If all lives matter, it’s awfully strange how rarely the folks repeating #AllLivesMatter speak up when people are harmed by police brutality.
anyway, #alllivesmatter twitter seems silent. that's weird.
— El Flaco (@bomani_jones) July 7, 2016
If all lives matter, you have to speak up when people of color are killed.
If all lives matter... SHOW US!!! Prove it! Show us our bodies hold the same value. There is no excuse for the slaughter. None.
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) July 7, 2016
If all lives matter, why weren’t you using that phrase until you needed to challenge #BlackLivesMatter?
For anyone trying to slide into my mentions with the #alllivesmatter please miss me with that and read this. pic.twitter.com/3UiiaqMXtl
— Imani Hakim (@anakih1) July 6, 2016
In short.
A visual representation of what you look like when you say things like #alllivesmatter or #alllivesshouldmatter pic.twitter.com/sLvVAn4uW5
— Maranda Berry (@msberry71) July 7, 2016
Because this is what it all comes down to.
#blacklivesmatter and if you can't say that, you don't believe that all lives matter anyway.
— Amber Patrice Riley (@MsAmberPRiley) July 6, 2016
At the end of the day, we are oppressed because of our sexualities, and people of color are oppressed because of racism, and those two things intersect (with a whole bunch of other identities!), which is why issues of racism are issues within the LGBT and queer community, and it’s nothing but illogical to say that #BlackLivesMatter has nothing to do with us as queer folks.
We need to step up to the plate and make sure that we’re challenging racism when we see it, including marginalized voices *other* than our own in the dialogue, and doing the super important and all too necessary work of knowing what it means to be an ally to queer and trans people of color.
Because we may be marginalized for our sexualities, and we may need allies because of that, but we also have to be allies to our friends who are further marginalized by intersecting identities.
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