White Innocence by Gloria Wekker

Author:Gloria Wekker [Wekker, Gloria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Duke University Press
Published: 2016-04-07T00:00:00+00:00

Just Being Gay (2007–2011)

In 2007 the government released a gay emancipation policy paper, Gewoon Homo Zijn (Just being gay), which covered the period until 2011, followed in the next period by a Policy Note on Emancipation (2013–2016). Since 2007, the emancipation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people falls under general emancipation policy, located in the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, together with women’s emancipation. I will make a critical analysis of the former policy paper, since it most clearly expresses the problems inherent in the conceptualization of homosexuality by the government and since these problems have not been addressed in the later policy note. Given the continuity of policies, I feel justified in assuming that these ideas are still present.

The main policy aim of Just Being Gay is to stimulate the social acceptance of homosexuality among the Dutch population (Ministerie van OC&W, 2007, 5) and there are five operational goals:

1. To stimulate conversation on homosexuality in different population groups

2. To counteract violence and intimidation against gays

3. To stimulate national and local alliances

4. To make an effort to produce gay-friendly environments at school, in the workplace, and in sports

5. To play an active international and European role in the acceptance of homosexuality

Let us stick with the main goal for a moment. The main goal, to stimulate the social acceptance of homosexuality among the Dutch population, has quickly morphed into one of the operational subgoals, that is, to stimulate conversation about homosexuality in different population groups. Fairly soon, this aim was completed by the following sleight of hand: The government wants to make homosexuality a topic of conversation among ethnic minority groups, among youth, and in religious circles (Ministerie van OC&W, 2007, 7). The Dutch population at large has thus effectively been cut down to three problematic categories. The main instrument is to stimulate a dialogue. All kinds of activities and subsidies have been set aside to facilitate this dialogue. Who could possibly be against a dialogue to discuss homosexuality from religious, cultural, and philosophy-of-life perspectives? It seems so self-evident and necessary that it is, to use a time-honored Dutch expression, like cursing in church to be critical toward this policy aim. However, I have two remarks to question the foundational assumption that speaking about one’s sexuality is only natural and thus good for everyone. Underlying this assumption is the difference between speaking about homosexual acts and performing those acts, without necessarily claiming a homosexual identity (Wekker 2006). My second, and related, overarching remark refers to the lack of attention to differences within and between categories of gays and lesbians.

First, why is it unproblematically assumed that homosexuality is something that should be talked about? Foucault’s ([1976] 1990) study of the history of sexuality is the history of sexuality in the West, and he meticulously shows how “a proliferation of discourses” about sexuality came into being through institutions like the church, medicine, and later therapies. Sexuality has become an object about which we need to talk and confess incessantly. What

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