LogFAQs > #876512308

Obviously this isn't the same as a government enforced segregation, but the principal still stands that you shouldn't shun away your allies like this.

I'm Black and gay and i remember encountering attitudes like this at my school's LGBTA. My straight buddy would go with me as an ally. During one of the meetings the some said in group discussion that, " we all know that straight people, f****n suck, ...." and no one challenged that notion. Or folks discussed having it be a safe space for only queer people, and it turned my buddy and I off of the club.

While ethnicity and sexuality are not the same, i get frustrated when I see similar attitudes arise. Some people would like to help or simply gain understanding. If we don't let them come and learn then we're going to remain bitter / angry / violent in their eyes. The one that want to come to BLM meetings aren't the ones they need "protection" from.

I also volunteer actively with the Vietnamese community and I wouldn't be as much of an ally as I am now if they kept their efforts / meetings exclusive to Vietnamese people.