Action Alert: Join the Wait… What?! Campaign to Spread the Word about Equal Rights

Join the Wait... What?! Campaign today, and stand up for equal rights!

Did you know your friends can be fired in 29 states, just for being gay? Surprised? So are lots of folks; equal rights are farther from reality than many of us would like to believe.

Join the Wait…What?! social media campaign to learn some surprising facts and let your friends know that you support them.

Through viral sharing on Facebook and Twitter, thousands of new voices will chime in to bring attention to equal rights issues like employment and housing discrimination. The movement has made great strides over the past year, year with the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and the passing of the marriage equality bill in New York, but there’s still much more to be done!

Friendfactor Founder Brian Elliot explains the campaign like this:

Not everyone realizes the full extent to which their gay friends are not equal: they can legally be fired and evicted in 29 states just for being gay. In 32 states, there’s zero protection from the law when gay friends are bullied. My straight friends are shocked when they learn these things, and we know other straight friends will be too. We believe there’s a tremendous opportunity to engage these friends and accelerate the pace of change for their gay friends.

Take Action: Join the campaign and share a surprising fact to stand up for your gay friends. The more eyes we can get on these facts, the faster we can fix what’s broken.

Being a Friend: What to do when a co-worker tells hurtful gay jokes.

Not just for unattended luggage.

If you’re trying to figure out what to do when a co-worker tells inappropriate gay jokes at your office, the first thing you should know is that you’re not alone: 58% of gay people report hearing these things at work. Whether you hear someone directly disparaging another person because of their sexuality, or work someplace where phrases like “that’s so gay” are used to mean something is bad, you’re working in a hostile environment. Comments like that are a big reason why 51% of gay and trans folks aren’t out at work: it doesn’t feel safe. But you can help.

Anyone can take steps to discourage harmful behavior like this, and good friends like you do. These gay jokes are really no different than someone making derogatory remarks about race; you’d want a friend to stand with you in a situation like this, too.

Here are some tips on what you can do when you hear co-workers making gay jokes:

• Say something. The moment you can make the biggest difference is right when you hear the offensive comment being made. Make it clear to your co-worker that their language is hurtful and would make a gay person feel uncomfortable, and that it isn’t ok. Or simply state that what was said isn’t appropriate in a work setting.
• Get in touch with HR. Although 29 states lack workplace protection for gay folks, your company probably has an anti-discrimination policy. Even if there’s nothing in writing that specifically addresses homophobic comments, your boss or HR department has an interest in making the company a safe place for all employees. Especially if you’re not comfortable saying something to the jokester yourself, this is a great way to make sure the incident doesn’t go unaddressed.
• Let your gay co-workers know you have their backs. Regardless of what you’re able to say in the moment or get the company to do to address the issue, it makes a big difference for the gay folks in the office to know someone else heard what happens and wants things to change. If you’ve taken any action, tell them, and in any case make it clear that you’re there if they ever need back-up.
• Make a bad situation into a learning opportunity. Your co-worker who made the joke probably deserves the benefit of the doubt; they might not know or understand why what they said was hurtful. Explain that calling something “gay” when they mean “bad” implies that gay IS bad,  and how that must make gay folks in the office feel. Let them know that what they may have thought was good-natured teasing can actually be very hurtful to someone; it’s not fair to pick on anyone just because of who they are.

Straight friends have the ability to make a huge difference in situations like these. If you can call your peers out, it makes a powerful statement that gay jokes aren’t just an issue for gay people: they’re an issue for anyone who cares about a gay person. Anything you can do makes your workplace feel that much safer for gay employees, whether they’re out at work or not.

Take Action: “Like” and share this post so all your friends will know what they can do if they ever hear a gay joke at work. Together we can make the world a safer place for our gay friends.

The end of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: ban on gay military service ends today!

“Repeal Day” celebrations are being held across the country in honor of the U.S. lifting its ban on gay military service today, Tuesday September 20th, 2011.

The former policy, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” was originally intended as a compromise to allow gay citizens to serve, albeit from the closet (not a place I’d personally choose to fight a war from. You know, poor visibility and all). The result of the policy, however, was far from a victory for gay troops. Living in fear of being outed, these men and women selflessly serving their country were forced to hide their identities, despite their willingness to sacrifice so much.

There were also widespread allegations that DADT was used maliciously by service members who wanted peers or superiors kicked out for personal grievances — just the suggestion of being gay could ruin a military career. Count that as another big reason for straight friends to care about gay rights: legalized discrimination puts us all at risk.

After months of controversy over lifting the ban, reports from the military itself indicate the policy shift won’t be a disruption to operations:

Pentagon press secretary George Little said Monday that the military is adequately prepared for the end of the current policy… “No one should be left with the impression that we are unprepared. We are prepared for repeal,” Little said.

Read the rest of this entry »

Fired for being gay, and suing Jesse Jackson over it.

There are still 29 states where there is no legal protection if you’re fired for being gay. Luckily for Tommy R. Bennet, Illinois isn’t one of them.

Bennet, who worked for Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH coalition, is now suing the company, claiming he was fired for being gay. If these allegations are true (and there’s no reason to believe they aren’t: it takes a lot of energy and courage to file this sort of complaint, and people don’t do so lightly), this case would be particularly disturbing. Discrimination is always awful, but to be discriminated against when working for a civil rights leader is extra shameful.

Bennett claims he worked for PUSH starting in July 2007, and was both an organizer and Jackson’s travel assistant.

Bennett claims he received a letter in December 2009, in which he was told he was being laid off due to a “lack of funding.” But Bennett alleges someone else was then hired to replace him.

A spokesperson for the Rainbow PUSH Coalition could not be reached for comment Friday evening. When Bennett’s allegations first surfaced in April, a spokeswoman said his claims were false and intended to harm Rainbow PUSH.

(via The Chicago Sun-Times)

The details of the alleged harassment are pretty galling too, but the most important point here is that Bennett has the right to seek justice for his claims. In 29 states, someone in an identical situation would not. For many of us who live in accepting environments or big cities, it can be hard to imagine discrimination taken to this kind of extreme. Especially in a bad economy, someone’s job can be everything, and to take it away simply on the basis of  their sexual orientation should be criminal, as it is in the case of so many other types of discrimination. Spend a minute thinking about it: in 29 states, your friends could be fired for being gay. It’s terrifying.

Take Action: Share this story so more people know about the 29 states where their friends can be fired for being gay. The more we know, the more we can do about it.

Mom can’t lead her son’s Boy Scout troop anymore because she’s gay.

After six years as a respected leader for the Cub Scouts, Denise Steele has been booted from heading up her son Jackson’s Boy Scout troop simply because she’s raising her children with another woman:

The Boy Scouts of America organization says it believes that “open homosexuality is inconsistent with the values.” It also recommends that scout parents and sponsors share this belief.

But, Steele still drove forward and as [her son] Jackson joined the troop, she completed her training to become an assistant scout leader. The training process to become a scout leader usually takes about a year. Steele completed it in three weeks…

“I think it’s disappointing – it’s a sad day for Boy Scouting. I think the actions are really out of sync of what scouting stands for,” Eric Ianson, a friend of Steele’s and an Eagle Scout said.

The scout law says a scout should be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind and obedient, thrifty, clean and reverent, Ianson said.

(Loudon Times: Potomac Falls woman removed from son’s Boy Scout troop)

This is a sad story not only for 12-year-old scout Jackson Steele and his family, but for the rest of the community who have lost a trusted leader for their children to a vindictive act made possible by the organization’s outdated policy. Because so many states still don’t have laws protecting folks from employment discrimination based on sexuality, there’s little to no recourse for the family. The Boy Scouts keep conducting “business as usual” indefinitely.

I for one hope my (hypothetical) kids find the best mentors out there, gay or straight.

Take Action: Share this story of the Boy Scouts gay mom getting the boot — enough public outcry might finally change the rules and allow gay kids and parents to participate fully in their communities without fear.

Do you live in one of the 29 states where your friends could be fired just for being gay?

Ten bucks says you caught this question today (and every other Monday ever): “What’d you do this weekend?” Innocent enough, right? If you’re like me, all you’ve got to talk about are naps, flea markets, maybe catching a show if my friends and I were feeling adventurous. Plus I’d probably mention spending time with my boo.

And therein lies the problem. My boo is a lady, too.

In 30 states, your friends could be fired on the spot, just for being gay. While employment laws protect workers from discrimination on the basis of common biases like race, gender, and religion, the law is dangerously silent on the matter of sexual orientation and gender identity. That means my boss could fire me for answering a simple question about my personal life honestly. Your friend could get canned for having a photo of their spouse on their desk if a manager happens to not like gay people. You could be passed over for a job in the first instance, just because the recruiter thought you were gay.

There’s no Federal law in place to protect gay and trans workers, so here’s what the legal landscape looks like at a glance on the state-wide level:

The Freedom Index: Freedom to Work