A new organization has launched called Tell3 with a goal of encouraging LGBT individuals to help explain their life stories to others with a goal of changing hearts and minds. As I have stated in numerous posts, our best weapon against those who seek to deny us equal rights and to depict us as abnormal, perverts, etc., is to live openly and honestly as who we are. By knowing us and learning how discrimination and prejudice has impacted us and often added difficulty to our lives, people are often forced to rethink their own prejudice. I encourage you to check out the website and to take some of the recommended/requested actions. We simply cannot sit around and wait for someone to hand us equality because if we do that, it will not happen. Here's part of why speaking up is important:*
[I]t's still really important to have these conversations with straight allies. Even supportive people may not fully understand just how much impact being LGBT has on our daily lives. While we were having our own conversations (we wouldn't ask you to do something we haven't done ourselves), many of us found that our supportive friends weren't particularly educated. One ally thought civil unions were available in all 50 states. Another was shocked that it's still legal in most states to fire someone for being LGBT. We even had one supporter swear to us that same-sex couples could get married in New York City!
*
Your conversation could be the one that educates and inspires a supporter to take action. And to win equality, we're going to need as many straight allies taking action as possible. If they want to know how to help, send 'em to this website.
*
You don't need to be political or know all the ins and outs of the latest gay rights legislation to make a difference. In fact, the best conversations aren't about politics at all. They're just one person talking to another person about how life changes (and doesn't change) when someone is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.
2 comments:
For what it's worth, I'm a straight conservative and I second the motion. Though educated as an engineer, and generally capable of setting aside my emotional reactions and thinking from first principles, the fact is that a lot of my thinking in regard to gay rights was shaped by my intense distaste for the ACT UP! freak shows. Following this blog has had a lot to do with allowing me to separate that from the objective public policy questions.
Good job, Michael. Bob.
Bishop Jack M. Tuell, retired, is a respected leader in the United Methodist Church. In 2003 he preached a powerful sermon, "How I Changed My Mind," about knowing people within the church, both laity and closeted gay clergy, who had been hurt by its exclusive polity. In his concluding paragraph he said,
"So what are we to do if we are to change the mind of the UMC to make it more inclusive to all of God's children? We change its heart. We help all of our people to experience the hurt, the pain, the trauma, the rejection which our present policy inflicts on good and faithful Christians. Oh, we don't neglect dealing with scripture and tradition and reason, because all of these can be enlisted in the struggle for inclusiveness. But we understand on an issue such as this that changing the heart is a prerequisite to changing the mind. At least, that's how it was for me."
Thanks, Michael, for your work.
Post a Comment