My interpretation is that she is trying to show how gay people feel being treated as one group by making straight people feel the same way at the beginning. We do regularly make a lot of generalizations about how gay people act, usually they’re very flamboyant or have a certain haircut. People also tend to draw attention to homosexuals, whether it be negative or positive, which can be alienating and uncomfortable, “Dear Hip-Hop,
Why are you fascinated with discovering gay rappers? Gay people rap. Just like gay people ride bikes and eat tofu (Froham, Line 15-17). She also begins with dear straight people as it captures our attention and this allows her to talk about the problems gay people face to people who most likely don’t know or haven’t experienced them.
When I began to read it, I did actually feel a bit awkward as I am straight and I felt like I was being called out for something I hadn’t done. But as I began to continued to read it I began to realize that our society does make a lot of generalizations about gay people too. Also gay people still aren’t the norm in our society. Like we’ll make a big deal about a gay couple being featured in certain media, but really we shouldn’t be doing that. By drawing attention to it, we’re acting like it’s an exception instead of the norm. Similarly gay people are still subject to hate crimes, people still treat them like dirt. I remember that when two women kissed at the Macy’s Day thanksgiving parade this year, there was major outcry about it. Many people said it traumatized their kids, which is an absolute lie. People act like homosexuality is some weird concept when it’s really just another form of love. Personally I hope one day gay people do become a norm, but that probably won’t be happening for a while. -Jacob DeHart
PoetryLlamas 