While marginalization is most damaging to marginalized individuals, it impacts the entire community. Marginalization undermines social goals, such as equality and unity. It can cause tension in communities which can lead to violence and other social problems.
People may be marginalized in some locations but not others. For example, in the Western world, cisgender women do not usually feel as marginalized because of their gender as they may in other parts of the world, such as the Middle East. While members of the LGBTQIA community often fall under the common banner of “queer,” some say that certain parts of this community are more marginalized than others. While gay and lesbian people enjoy greater acceptance with recent strides including marriage equality, transgender people often feel very marginalized. People may feel more marginalized if they fit into several minority groups.
Education is one of the most effective weapons against marginalization. When people understand the groups they marginalize better, they learn to see the similarities between people in their community, rather than their differences.