What are the Oppression Olympics?

Details: Category: Asexuality 101; Published on Monday, 12 September 2011 15:45; Written by Shawn Landis; Hits: 981

A person who has just identified as Asexual may not know what the Oppression Olympics are. Even people who have never heard the phrase may find themselves caught up in such an argument. Oppression Olympics is a fancy word for a simple idea.

The phrase refers to a tendency of minority groups to argue about who has it worse. Activists find this behavior problematic because it detracts from serious issues that each group may face. It also prevents different groups united under a single umbrella from achieving common goals. (News sites catering to a specific community may perpetuate this problem. News sites tend to focus on problems).

There are times when one minority will ignore the rights of the other for political expediency, but this happens rarely. It often touches debate between the groups where it occurs. (The most recent examples are the transgender protections getting removed from ENDA and the case of the bisexual players who were removed from a Gay softball team for not being gay).