Huit raisons pour l'antimilitariste d'avoir besoin de l'homo

1. La militarisation n'est pas seulement une guerre, une armée ou un avion de chasse. La militaristion est un système, une logique et un chapelet de normes qui perpétuent et regénèrent nos sociétés et notre vie quotidienne. L'analyse homo du pouvoir est un outil politique qui peut nous aider à remettre en cause ces normes. La question de la "liberation homo" ne s'inscrit pas dans un système patriarcal et militariste, elle va au-delà des politiques d'intégration et concerne la création de sociétés futures justes qui ne font pas que recréer un système de pouvoir sous un nom différent.

2. Le militarisme perpétue des normes de genre rigides, et est ancré dans l'idée hétérosexiste de genre qui définie la masculinité par la puissance physique et l'agressivité d'une part et féminité par la docilité et la passivité. Les personnes homosexuelles et transgenres, la militance et l'analyse queer remettent en cause la légitimité de ces normes et, de ce fait la base et les idées du militarisme.

3. Militarism depends upon and recreates a racist and hierarchical world order that tells us whose life is worth defending and whose is not. The image of "the other" needs to exist as well as a united "we" (white, heterosexual, ablebodied, man.) whose life is worth defending. Queer analysis that foregrounds, cultivates and nurtures difference is a challenge to the existence of this homogenous "we", and thus to the logic behind the existence of the military.

4. There's a long-standing opposition to the military from queer communities and other marginalised groups. These groups have since long realised that the military is not acting in their interests. Now other parts of the antimilitarist movement needs to recognise this tremendous antimilitarist activism and join with all groups struggling for peace and justice.

5. Movements where queer and transgendered people - or any other group - feel excluded, not listened to and not taken seriously, of course fail drastically in accountability. Actively working to make our movements inclusive does not just make us a larger movement, it makes room for more perspectives and experiences and makes us more creative and effective in our work against militarism.

6. LGBTQ people remain under attack by militaries and governments all over the world. The state discriminates against and sanctions violence against LGBTQ people, hate crime rates rise in militarised communities, at the same time as the possibilities for norm breakers and other marginalised groups are restrained. Radical movements must stand in solidarity with those most affected by militarism, which include LGBTQ people.

7. The military is currently using LGBTQ communities to legitimise their activities. By creating a (false) public image of a "modern" and "open" military, they seek to create acceptance for militarism and military "solutions". Queer people are organising against this "pinkwashing" of their struggles, and refuse to be used to legitimise death and destruction. Together we must show that an antimilitarist world is a really secure world for LGBTQ people and others.

8. Any change starts at home. A heterosexist, patriarchal culture promotes and legitimises war. A movement working against war must challenge these norms within their own movements and communities as well as in society as a whole. We must address all issues of structural, personal, and intimate violence wherever they exist, to create truly secure and sustainable cultures that promote peace and justice.

Alvine Andersson

Alvine Andersson is active in the Swedish antimilitarist network Ofog.