Queer Allies

Just Out has a really nice article spotlighting several straight allies to the queer community. I really love this one comment by Anne Sweet, a social justice advocate, when asked how she supports the community:

I learn about who folks are; I show up. I learn what it means to be an ally. I vote. I talk to my neighbors. I interrupt when I need to because homophobia is socially entwined within the black community. I spend personal reflective time understanding my own role as a person perceived as a heterosexual person. I look at my own biases and how I can change my own actions.

To really narrow it down means to acknowledge every human; that’s how minute it is. We are socially set up to keep bigotry moving, then we are encouraged to not acknowledge their human-ness based on their access to resources. Those with access are acknowledged, and those without are left out.


So often, when people act, or think they are acting, they don't include looking at themselves and their own place in things. I am moved by Anne's wisdom here.And here is the rest of it.