Imagine being 18, fairly certain you’re at least one kind of queer and massively terrified because you know what queer folks go through and you’ve seen the news stories, heard about kids being kicked out and ostracized and you’ve heard people first-hand say all “the gays” should be killed. Then, you hear about a song written advocating for same-sex marriage, written by a couple dudes from your state, and you’re floored. Then it gets popular. Like, massively, hugely popular, and you’re even more floored because, wow, people actually care.

Then, it turns out these guys are straight and have no actual concept of the struggle you or other kids like you will go through when you find someone you want to marry. And that’s fine, but here’s the problem: Everyone in the country is hailing these two straight dudes as some kind of saviors of the queer community.

Imagine your frustration when, once again, it’s the straight, white men of the world who get all the attention. Imagine your frustration when the actual lesbian woman who helped write the song, Mary Lambert, is more or less completely ignored by the mainstream media. Imagine your frustration when you voice these issues and straight people tell you to just be thankful Macklemore is on your side.

The sheer number of actual queer artists is huge – Azaelia Banks, Lambert, Mykki Blanco and Angel Haze, just to name a few. There isn’t really a shortage of queer artists, and, to be honest, us queer folks don’t need a white knight on a valiant steed to save us from our tower of oppression. It’s not that Macklemore’s help isn’t appreciated, but the focus of a movement shouldn’t be someone who lies almost entirely outside of that movement.

“I think it’s cool he’s out as a straight ally,” said queer-identified freshman Rachel Walters. “But that’s just something a decent person would do these days.”

I agree: Macklemore is a well-needed and, in my opinion, appreciated ally, but the fact that so many people are continuing to praise him for being a basically good human being and deciding that queer people deserve the right to marry like real human beings is insulting. And what’s even more insulting is being told to just shut up and be thankful this cisgender (a person whose gender and gender expression matches up with their sex) straight dude decided to grace our lowly movement with his approval.

How dare I be even the slightest bit aggravated at a society that continues to value straight, white men over the truly oppressed and continues to place their voices and opinions on issues directly affecting oppressed people high above the voices of the oppressed. Even when the oppressed are screaming at the top of their lungs for recognition. Even when the oppressed are coming out in full force hoping to catch a line. Even when the oppressed are ready and willing to take the stage. Yes, how terribly rude of me to be aggravated that Macklemore is given more recognition, for an issue that does not affect him, than the queer woman who wrote the refrain to his song.

As the article “Stop Telling Queer People to be Grateful for Macklemore” published on Feminspire in September 2013 eloquently said, “to essentially paint a straight, cisgender person as the leader of the LGBT rights movement is incredibly problematic, and it ignores the queer voices that have been speaking to issues of equality for decades.”

This is the root of the problem – it’s not that Macklemore is a bad ally or that queer folks aren’t speaking up, it’s that society as a whole is ignoring the queer folks who are screaming for attention in favor of Macklemore. Lambert wrote an amazing love song from the chorus of “Same Love,” but she may not have been able to have her voice heard without the exposure from Macklemore’s song – and that’s the problem right there.

Not to even mention the fact that Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are getting far more attention nationally than Lambert. “I feel like Mary Lambert should get more credit than [Macklemore] does, because she’s out,” Walters said. “I think most people are in support, so the fact that he’s getting more attention is frustrating because she is out as a lesbian.”

Stop telling queer folks to stop being upset that society continues to ignore their voices and their stories until they’re conducted through the story of a straight, white dude. Especially one who specifically felt the need to point out how straight he is while singing a song about queer rights.