Dec 21st, 2009
Posted by Paul Cates, LGBT Project at 3:46pm	LGBT Rights

Shouldn’t This Be the Christmas When Someone Gets Told?

As you get ready to celebrate the holidays, we hope you will consider giving the gift of LGBT equality by having three conversations with friends and family members about what it means to be LGBT. Opinion research shows that people are much more likely to support equality when they’ve had an opportunity to get to know what it really means for someone to be LGBT. The best way to let others what it’s like is through personal conversations. And no, you don’t have to be LGBT to have these conversations. You can talk about LGBT people you’ve known.

What better time to have these conversations than the holidays? It’s the one time of year when we get to see old friends and extended family members, and most people are usually in a good mood and eager to catch up. To learn more about what to talk about and who to talk to, please check out our Tell 3 website. Meanwhile, we realize that it’s not always easy to start these conversations, so we came up with a list of suggestions for sparking them. Sometime before Uncle Albert finishes off his fourth glass of eggnog, try working one of these topics into the conversation. But remember, these are just conversation starters. To get people to change their hearts and minds, you need to make it personal. That means talking about LGBT relationships and what it’s like to be shut out of family protections for our relationships. It means letting people know what its like to be picked on and harassed as a kid. And it means talking about how being LGBT isn’t all that different from everyone else.

Take advantage of the following hot topics to share with others what it’s like to be LGBT:

The Economy – Let’s face it, someone is going to bring it up. While it looks as though the worst of it is hopefully behind us, we’re still reeling from the worst economic downfall in decades with an unemployment rate at over 10%. Why not let people know that it’s perfectly acceptable to fire someone in 29 states for being gay and in 37 for being transgender? Most people will be a little surprised by this statistic, giving you the perfect opportunity to take the conversation in a more personal direction.

The Healthcare Debate -- This one is a little bit trickier. If your family and friends are in the middle of a big argument, it’s probably not the best time to try to have a personal conversation. But, if everyone pretty much shares the same point of view, you’ve got a perfect opportunity to remind people that same-sex couples are often shut out of family health insurance plans because many employers don’t recognize same-sex couples. And if you’re in a relationship – gay or straight – talk about what it would be like to have to worry that you couldn’t visit your spouse or partner in the hospital. Don’t stop with health care, share other ways your life is different (or the same) because you are LGBT.

Terrible Treatment of LGBT People in Other Countries – The Ugandan legislature is poised to vote on a bill that would impose the death penalty on same-sex intimacy, while friends and family members would face up to seven years in jail for failing to report them to authorities. Last year in Iraq there were many reports of gay people being hunted down and brutally murdered, often at the behest of their own family members. It shouldn’t be hard to take this conversation into a more personal direction.

Popular Culture – There is no question that the proliferation of LGBT people and themes in popular culture has helped tremendously in building support for LGBT equality. Here are just a few examples from the past few months that should help you start talking. The gay character Kurt on Glee had a great storyline about coming out to his working class father who struggles but ultimately accepts his son. On Modern Family, the gay couple, Cameron and Mitchell, face the same joys and anxieties that all new parents face after adopting a daughter. Ellen DeGeneres and her longtime partner Portia de Rossi tied the knot to much fanfare only to see the voters pass Proposition 8 a few months later. If your friends and family are the type to read Us, Star or the National Enquirer, there’s always Lady GaGa and Adam Lambert. Just remember, ultimately the conversation has to turn personal and that means sharing information about your struggles as an LGBT person.

Permalink |	LGBT Rights

1. Anonymous Says:
   Dec 21st, 2009 at 5:06pm

   MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU. Even though you are taking way our Rights as Christians and what the Founding Fathers wanted. This nation was founded on Christian rights and freedoms. Now you are taking them away. Shame on YOU.
   GOD BLESS YOU AND MERRY CHRISTMAS

2. Anonymous Says:
   Dec 21st, 2009 at 5:07pm

   My opinion is absolutely the opposite of what the ACLU stands for. Mind your own business and stop trying to force these issues down our collective throats.

3. Julsinsf Says:
   Dec 22nd, 2009 at 3:42pm

   MERRY CHRISTMAS! ACLU is, in my opinion, considered widely to be just as bad as the principles they take up litigation and protests against. Forcing the many to bow to the few is the opposite of Democracy which is based on the sole principle that " majority rules"...Hence voting. Dear committed members of the ACLU, please kindly see the folly in your path, lest you fall into the same leftist movement that created Marxism. Which by the way is the precise direction this so-called organization is headed.

4. roald Says:
   Dec 22nd, 2009 at 10:16pm

   And Merry Christmas to you too.

   Anon 1&2, why do you think that it is your right to take away the rights of others?

   This nation was NOT founded on Christian rights and freedoms. This has been demonstrated over and over. It is based on our Constitution which talks about not having a State religion and giving equal rights to all.

5. Anonymous Says:
   Dec 22nd, 2009 at 10:25pm

   Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Kwanza, whatever us as Americans belive; Not "Happy Holidays". The ACLU is the largest example of irony I know. "We wanna give people freedom of religion/speech", they wanna conform us to one idea, whatever that may be. They're trying to sue my towns council cause of the prayer they say before every meeting. I even heard they wanna change the headstones at Arlington from crosses, and stars to concrete poles in the ground, and remove religious practices in our military. Religion=Hope=Morale, something we need right now. The ACLU are hypocrites. Merry Christmas, GOD bless.

6. Karen Says:
   Dec 22nd, 2009 at 11:14pm

   Do not take away my freedom to proclaim the joy of my eternal salvation from Jesus Christ as you are so busy "protecting" the rights of others.

7. Anonymous Says:
   Dec 23rd, 2009 at 9:20am

   Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
   I'm wishing you a Christmas
   Full of laughter, love and light,
   With delicious holiday foods
   To excite your appetite.
   I'm hoping you receive
   Delightful gifts to make you smile,
   With family and friends
   To love you all the while.
   I wish you a Merry Christmas;
   May your Christmas dreams come true,
   And when Christmas is over,
   Happy New Year, too!

8. Anonymous Says:
   Dec 24th, 2009 at 12:24am

   The ACLU is a joke and should not be taken seriously

9. Anonymous Says:
   Dec 24th, 2009 at 3:25am

   You ACLU people make me sad! You need prayer!!!

10. Caf-Caf Says:
    Dec 24th, 2009 at 8:24am

    What rights as a Christian have you lost? The ability to dictate others' lives? Guess what, that was never your right.

    And I'm going to take this argument in a different direction. Why the hell should I care what the founding fathers wanted? The US is not bound to the prehistoric laws of its founders.

    Awesome job ACLU. You are a wonderful organization.

    Happy Festivus!

11. Maggie Says:
    Dec 30th, 2009 at 8:33pm

    So #10 you don't believe in the Constitution? I believe the founding fathers wrote the Constitution.

12. Anonymous Says:
    Dec 30th, 2009 at 9:22pm

    LGBT is all a choice to live a deviant lifestyle. You deserve no special treatment, protection or rights as a result of this choice. Live how you want but don't expect the majority to understand or support your lisping, effeminate whiney and perverted agenda.

13. roald Says:
    Jan 4th, 2010 at 12:04pm

    Maggie - I completely agree with your comments and read "troll" into Caf-Caf's post (#10). On one hand, s/he supports the Constitutional ban on a State religion and praises the ACLU for the work it does. On the other hand, s/he attacks the validity of our Constitution, one of the reasons the ACLU exists.

14. Anonymous Says:
    Jan 12th, 2010 at 1:31pm

    Good job ACLU.

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