Privilege

Privilege refers to unearned social advantages that accrue to members of dominant groups based on race, gender, sexual orientation, class, ability, and other factors. These advantages often operate invisibly and are easy to overlook for the people who benefit from them. In LGBTQ+ discussions, privilege comes up in several forms: passing privilege, meaning the relative safety of being read as straight or cisgender; white privilege inside LGBTQ+ spaces; and male privilege within gay communities. Recognizing privilege is central to intersectional politics, an idea rooted in the work of scholar Kimberle Crenshaw, which holds that people in the same community can face very different levels of safety, access, and opportunity depending on their overlapping identities.