Showing posts with label Coming Out. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coming Out. Show all posts

9. That More Out Politicians Are in the Running

Wednesday, June 9, 2010 7:00pm

So, I've already tackled coming out and how important it is, but with the huge victories in the primaries last night, I couldn't help but gloat.

This year, the Victory Fund backed 21 candidates in the primaries. Of those 21, 17 are moving on to General Elections; that's roughly 81% for you statistic junkies out there.

81% of out LGBT candidates backed by the Victory Fund have a chance to serve Americans in states across the country. Candidates like Steve Pougnet and Bryce Bennett. Pougnet is the openly gay mayor of Palm Springs, who will be facing Congresswoman Mary Mack Bono, Sonny Bono's widow, in the California 45th. Bryce Bennett is a 25-year-old running for the Congress. Bennett worked for the DNC in Montana during President Obama's campaign, and he also worked against Montana's CI-96, which unfortunately passed.

While the fact that 17 out politicians are running with help from the Victory Fund, we can easily see that that it is not enough. I don't know about you, but I'd rather have more community members in the room with a voice and a vote when things like DADT, ENDA, and DOMA are on the floor--that means more allies too.

But I'm not complaining. 17 isn't enough, but it's a damn good start!

Post by Gabby

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4. That We Keep Coming Out

Friday, June 4, 2010 11:18am

"While 57% of Americans oppose legalizing gay marriage, Americans who personally know someone who is gay or lesbian are almost evenly divided on the matter, with 49% in favor and 47% opposed. Among those who do not personally know anyone who is gay, 72% oppose legalized gay marriage while just 27% favor it."
That statistic is a year old from a Gallup poll. Caitlin posted it Friday, June 5th, 2009 as a way to share the importance of coming out. By now, most of us have seen Milk, and we know how that the man, who was perhaps the greatest LGBTQ activist of all time, thought that coming out was the most important thing we could do for the cause. I would have to say that I agree with him.

When we come out we put a human face to our issues. I'm not saying that means we should all rush head long into being out without accessing the consequences (see: Sara Isaacson), but coming out prevents people from being able to talk about us and our rights in the abstract. Instead of saying that "Gay people shouldn't be allowed to marry", they must think that "My son/daughter/brother/sister/neighbor shouldn't be allowed to marry". Unfortunately in some cases this doesn't always change hearts and minds, but in a lot of cases it does.

Just so you know, we have continued to come out. We see it in our celebrity culture (Adam Lambert, Ricky Martin, Chris Colfer, Sean Hayes, Chely Wright, etc.), but more and more average people are coming out too. If there's any evidence in that, it's the results of this year's Gallup poll (the opposition has gone from 57% to 53%, closing the gap to only 9 percentage points in their favor).

Keep coming out!


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Why YOU Should Come Out

Friday, June 5, 2009 5:03pm

So here's something I hope you guys will find interesting!


A poll released today by Gallup found that those who know someone gay are more likely to support same-sex marriage, while those who don't know anyone gay or lesbian overwhelming oppose gay marriage.

"While 57% of Americans oppose legalizing gay marriage, Americans who personally know someone who is gay or lesbian are almost evenly divided on the matter, with 49% in favor and 47% opposed. Among those who do not personally know anyone who is gay, 72% oppose legalized gay marriage while just 27% favor it."


Overall, only 58% of those polled say they have a friend, relative or co-worker who personally told them they are gay. If those 42% of Americans who THINK they don't know anyone gay, realize they DO, imagine the positive impact this would have, not just on gay marriage, but on the welfare of gays and lesbians in general:

"Of those who say they personally know someone who is gay or lesbian, 88% say they are comfortable around these individuals, compared to 64% of those who do not personally know someone who is gay or lesbian."

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About PRIDE

PRIDE was established on campus in 1986 as the Gay and Lesbian Association to meet the needs of the LGBTIQA community. PRIDE is a UNCW student organization dedicated to the recognition of students, faculty, and staff who have individual and unique personalities and would like to discuss current social issues. We primarily deal with issues concerning lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and allied (LGBTIQA) communities.

For our community members who identify as such, we are an open safe-haven, resource center, and activist organization. And we really like to talk!

We whole-heartedly believe in the power of words. And while all of our members are not as outspoken as others, we encourage the presence of all members at events so that we may all learn something from others.