Gay Male Privilege: Does It Exist?

This is a topic that’s becoming increasingly concerning for me as a gay lady. I’ve discussed this issue with my lesbian friends and the majority have agreed that this is not only a lesbian topic for discussion, but also an issue that concerns women as a whole.

What is this mysterious matter, you ask? Simply put, I want to talk to you and hear your concerns about gay male privilege.

You will hear feminists (and non-feminists, for that matter) of all genders debate and assess the state of the patriarchy today. When we think of who has the most power in today’s society, the majority of us will think about the heterosexual, male, Caucasian population. But who rarely creeps up? That’s right, those so-called “friendly” gay boys.

Granted, many of them identify as male, and some may be Caucasian, so they have white male privilege as it is. But because they also identify as homosexual, does this get them off the hook when it comes to disrespecting the rights of their female counterparts?

Now I am not hating on the gay male population as a whole here, don’t get me wrong. Some gay men are just as feminist as Gloria Steinem herself. But there are a select handful who feel as though, because they are gay men, they are somehow entitled to be inappropriate towards women. Many of us have heard “your *** are amazing!” and are consistently groped by our gay male friends, and most of us think nothing of it. But is this morally correct?

I for one am sure that most women do not want to be touched by strangers, whether they are gay or not. So when did it become okay for homosexual men to take advantage of their own sexual orientation as an excuse to disrespect women?

Furthermore, there is a downright sense of ‘lesbophobia’ emerging within the gay community. Gay men often think it is perfectly okay to call their lesbian “friends” derogatory names such as ‘dyke’ and ‘lesbo’: names we would be offended by if a heterosexual person spoke to us in such a way.

Here’s an example of what I mean. I live with a pretty diverse group of people; one other lesbian, a heterosexual girl and a gay man. I love said gay man to the end of the world, but I can’t lie, when he leaves the house yelling “bye lesbian!” I can’t help but feel offended. It’s almost as if that’s all I am to him when he speaks in such a way; a rug munching, vagina loving lesbian who does nothing but sleep with as many girls as possible, only to return home to cuddle with my cats.

Should gay men be able to get away with such things without confrontation? How can we disband gay male privilege as I have highlighted here and encourage them to wholeheartedly respect women? I’d love to know what you think!