Tennesseans Calling In Gay Need To Watch Their Back

By Kleinheider Posted on December 10, 2008 at 7:59 am

Chris Sanders explains why folks participating in “Day Without A Gay” need be careful:

The Tennessee Equality Project gave our local committees around the State the option of organizing something for the day, but they decided not to because they didn’t think that it supported the political goals of their communities. Advising people to call in gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender is a recipe for getting fired in many parts of the State since we lack federal, state, or local protections for sexual orientation and gender identity.

I think to be effective boycotts like this have to be focused. Having led a successful business-related action when Kroger and Harris-Teeter pulled Out & About Newspaper from their racks, TEP prefers to advise action that is locally adapted and focused on positive action. By urging volunteering, Day Without a Gay actually has a lot of potential. There ought to be a day of service when GLBT people are visible serving causes in their communities. But connecting it to calling out of work simply isnt effective in some of the redder regions of the country.

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Tags: Day Without a Gay, gay, GLBT, Homosexual, Out & About, Tennessee Equality Project  

TN Equality Project President: “There May Not Even Be Much Of A Gay Culture”

By Kleinheider Posted on May 30, 2008 at 7:23 am

Chris Sanders of the Tennessee Equality Project discusses gay and heterosexual culture in response to a question raised in this space:

Since we’re always saying THE gay community or THE GLBT community, I think this is actually a pretty fair question, tongue-in-cheek or not. So A heterosexual culture? No, not just one. In fact, there may not even be much of a gay culture. Its end has already been proclaimed again and again, even by the likes of Andrew Sullivan. The fact that we use 4 or more letters to describe ourselves indicates we’re at least in a period of reevaluation.

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Tags: Chris Sanders, gay culture, GLBT, Tennessee Equality Project