a really interesting chemistry that can be very positive
September 7, 2020 2:16 PM   Subscribe

[P]eople talk about chosen family, right, for queers. And the thing about a union is it’s like given family! It’s like everyone who works there is in your union family, and part of the ethic of unions is whether I like you or not—whether I’m like you or not—we have a shared interest and a shared organization. Which is really different from especially the comfort zone you were talking about. And that’s just so different from a union which is—here’s this hodge podge of people that were hired by some employer, and yet we’re a community at work. For Labor Day, a candid conversation about queers in the labor movement with longtime union activists Miriam Frank and Desma Holcomb.
posted by sciatrix (2 comments total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
Super interesting, thanks for posting. They seem to have having so much fun. I really liked the part about mutual support and also this:

The labor movement has a lot of experience in expanding the idea of what it means to be human. And you know, it starts with the consequences of the Triangle Fire, it starts with the industrial mass production in the ‘20s and ‘30s when there weren’t unions in factories, and the labor movement is about the question of our humanity. So, yes it’s wages and hours and time clocks and a lot of other crap but I mean that all has to do with wanting to be treated like a human being. Always.
posted by lab.beetle at 8:24 PM on September 7, 2020 [1 favorite]


I watched a sweet movie about the London Lesbian & Gays Support the Miners group in the 80s a while ago. Found it, it's called Pride.
posted by aniola at 10:04 AM on September 8, 2020 [1 favorite]


« Older Farm Hack   |   The Comet Is Coming [for your ears and brain] Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments