Regards to David and all,
"THOMPSON, David" wrote:
> Sarah wrote:
> >I'm afraid experience leads many of us to believe that if we are not
> >specifically included then we are excluded. I'm sure other minorities >can
> relate to this!
>
> Even as a gay person myself (+ a pagan, and BDSMer - so lots of minority
> groupings there...) I'm not entirely sure of the wisdom of this. I have
> personally found that I am only excluded when I decide to emphasise my
> "otherness" - and then it is my own perceptions that do the excluding...
Perhaps you have the luxury of choosing whether or not to emphasise your
otherness. A black person has no such choice, nor does a very camp gay man, a
transsexual who is "obviously" so, or, in the case of library services, a
lesbian looking for lesbian-specific resources in a library that simply doesn't
stock them. The fact is that regardless of how good we are at choosing not to
buy into our own victimisation, real and damaging societal conditions and
structures exist which work against us on the very level of our race, creed, or
sexual or gender orientation. I would prefer a perfect world where all labels
are irrelevant, but as long as I am excluded for being a bisexual woman or
anything else, I will choose to acknowledge those identities where necessary,
in order to ensure fair and equitable treatment (and freedom from abuse) for
myself and others like me.
> When talking about being "inclusive", surely the more explicit we become in
> listing all of those groups we must include, the more we risk *not*
> including one of the smaller "minorities".
Well, we'll never get it perfect. Obviously new and different minorities will
make themselves known to us as they become stronger and more vocal. Witness the
fact that many LGBT organisations in the US now also explicitly include
intersexed people, who have been making their exclusion obvious through
activism. When I first moved to Glasgow the Glasgow LGBT Centre was the Glasgow
Gay and Lesbian Centre. Saying "where will it all end" is not a valid argument
against listening to people who are different and who are asking for the same
rights as others. At this stage in our history the LGBT or queer communities
are a sizable minority with particular needs and who are specifically excluded
on account of their difference to the majority.
> Nicky's tongue in cheek comment
> about Heterosexuals feeling excluded could be a genuine point - if we list
> each group individually and separately, then surely we *must* also include
> "Straight", "Married", "White" etc - or risk making them feel excluded.
There's a difference between "feeling excluded" and actually being excluded.
Need I labour the very obvious point that this Diversity Council is about
ensuring inclusion of the groups who have been traditionally excluded from the
LA. This does NOT include white heterosexual married people. They are already
included.
> It seems to me that dividing us all into tighter and tighter defined
> "minority" groupings merely emphasises our differences, rather than our
> commonalities. I know that as Librarians our urge is to catalogue and
> classify every minutiae, but that very act can itself be the first step
> towards the segregation and control of the thing catalogued.
Funny, as a librarian from New Zealand, my pleasure in being a librarian has
always been based on the fact that as a profession, we promote the empowerment
of all through meeting the information needs of the community at large, and
that we continually examine ourselves and what we are doing based on new
understandings of exactly who is being excluded from our services.
> Surely "Inclusive" implicitly means just that - holistically including
> *everyone*, regardless of any social, religious, political (or any other)
> affiliations or categories - whether externally or personally applied. To
> try and make that implicit inclusion explicit merely defeats it's meaning
> and it's purpose.
I suppose then, they never should've had an enquiry into the Stephen Lawrence
case, and the police throughout the UK shouldn't be looking at the subtle and
entrenched ways they have excluded and ignored the needs of various minorities?
If that's how you feel then don't sign the form to support the forming of a
Diversity Council, but I do hope that there are enough librarians out there who
are willing to admit that we have some learning and changing to do within our
profession.
> "Strength through Diversity" comes from our common ground, not our
> differences.
In my opinion, the whole point of "Strength through Diversity" is holding a
balance between acknowledging and celebrating our differences, and our
commonalities.
As yet, we've had no official word back from the initiators of the Diversity
Council about whether they are including LGBT in their remit? I'm sure I'm not
alone in awaiting this with baited breath so I can support this worthy
enterprise with my signature.
Kind regards,
Sarah
--
Ms. Sarah Currier
Research Fellow
INSPIRAL Project
Centre for Digital Library Research
Andersonian Library, University of Strathclyde
101 St. James Road, Glasgow G4 0NS
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)141 548 4586; Fax: +44 (0)141 548 2102
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Web: http://inspiral.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/
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