#and in those locations queer folks are scattered and isolated so the internet becomes a lifeline
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This is what the phrase "the gay community" sounds like to me:
"And that's why we need to have a dialogue about the -- (Shit, Bob, what do we call these people?)"
"(Gay?)"
"(No I mean collectively.)"
"(The gays?)"
"(That makes us sound like a couple of bible-thumpers!)"
"(Well then I don't know, just call them a community or something.)"
" -- The gay community."
#gay community#forgive me for sounding skeptical#I always wonder whether or not that phrase is an exonym#because I have no actual personal connection to any Gay Community#I do not live in a place where such people are beset by discrimination#so the local queer folks don't have to band together in the same way#we're all just folks here#I get to say that my community is my town and my church and I know there are plenty of places where a lot of folks can't say the same#and in those locations queer folks are scattered and isolated so the internet becomes a lifeline#and most conceptual communities that are actual communities are thus based on the internet#which makes for some weird discursive norms that frequently reward vitriol#you can see how I would be skeptical about the existence of any such community if I am not part of it#and begin to wonder if it's nothing more than news reporter shorthand for a group of people that they can't refer to in any other fashion#but I am aware that queer folks have historically depended on local physical community for survival#so I can't dismiss it out of hand#meanwhile the phrase 'gamer community' is far more dubious because there is a discursive community of gamers but#it is a tiny and very loud subset of the actual number of people in the world who play games#and when it comes to fandom I guess you could call that another discursive community because it involves people actually communing#but when it comes to news anchors and journalists saying things like 'the boots community' I'm like what fucking community#so basically the phrase 'the x community' has spread out from The Gays to situations where it is less and less relevant
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