Gay Friendly Straight Allies: Do They Get It?

There was an interesting essay in SELF magazine, written by a straight spouse of a gay man, in which she describes her feelings regarding life before the marriage, the marriage, and the after effects of a divorce and finding the "man of her dreams." Click here for the article. Thanks to Citizen Crain and Andrew Sullivan for the tip about this article.

I agree with both Crain and Sullivan: the vast majority of straight-allies do not understand the constant prejudice that we, who are LGBT, face day in and day out regarding the laws of the land that do not include us at all. By and large, our straight allies have no clue as to what we are not afforded, either as single LGBT people, or people in committed relationships. I am made aware of this truth when giving book talks from ON BEING A GAY PARENT, and some people express shock when I tell them about the 1000+ laws that heterosexual married couples have that those of us in long term committed relationships do not have, all because of a $45 piece of paper called a "marriage license."

The term, "Wake Up!" is not enough. Like Crain and Sullivan, our hope is that, with our collective voices, change is afoot.

Peace,

Brett