Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights

[Jeff Lutes]

Hey Friends,

Soulforce is currently planning a major action for coming out week, October 7-13, 2007, called Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights. Essentially, it involves straight allies holding a one night vigil during that week, outside their state governor's mansion or some other location that makes sense. We have identified 25 key states in which we are trying to make these actions happen. Each state needs a "state leader" to organize and recruit other straight allies for the vigil. The state leader can be a straight couple, or a group of straight students from a gay-straight alliance, etc.

The power of this action is that it will be happening in multiple states each night for an entire week. We hope it will give us a unique way to empower straight allies who want to speak out, perhaps for the first time. We could use help finding state leaders in the following states:

Colorado
Kentucky
Tennessee
North Carolina
New York
Wyoming
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Iowa
Arkansas
Alabama
Indiana

If you know any straight allies in these states who might be willing to take on this project, please send me an email at jeff@soulforce.org with their contact information. Thanks!

Jeff Lutes, MS, LPC
Executive Director
Soulforce, Inc

[antonyh]

This is a wonderful idea. I am curious about why you selected those particular States. I have some P-FLAG connections in Indiana I will have to mine.

[andrewlittle]

...tentatively for Iowa. I may be moving depending on church call, however I know several active hetero allies that I can network with even if I do move. I can certainly help get a movement started.

Andy

[Alecto]

At the risk of asking an exceedingly silly question, are there parallel events during the week for the actual gay folk? Or perhaps room in the organizing for gay folk? It seems....weird to have an event in solidarity "for" us that we pretty much can't have anything to do with.

[u-dog]

Originally Posted by Alecto

At the risk of asking an exceedingly silly question, are there parallel events during the week for the actual gay folk? Or perhaps room in the organizing for gay folk? It seems....weird to have an event in solidarity "for" us that we pretty much can't have anything to do with.

What's weird about it? Do you plan your own Birthday Parties? this is a way to demonstrate that Civil rights for one group of people are important (or should be important) to ALL people. This is an essential tenet of Ghandi and King versions of non-violence.

[Zerbie]

Hi,

Antony, there are going to be actions in all 50 states, if SF gets leaders in the "missing" states listed above to do the planning.

To Alecto's point, I think it's extremely critical that more straight-identified people/opposite sex couples/their families become visible in the movement for LGBT equality. Success is going to hinge on that. Having said that, SF has said that LGBT people are totally allowed to be involved with planning/organizing. Additionally, I believe the week in October was chosen as a straight person's parallel to the National Coming Out day activities. So, we have NCOD, AND we have 7 Straight Nights, so that everyone gets a chance to "come out" for equality.

[Alecto]

Originally Posted by u-dog

What's weird about it? Do you plan your own Birthday Parties? this is a way to demonstrate that Civil rights for one group of people are important (or should be important) to ALL people. This is an essential tenet of Ghandi and King versions of non-violence.

I don't always plan my own birthday parties (though, lately.. :-/), but I do always attend.

[antonyh]

Originally Posted by Zerbie

Hi,

Antony, there are going to be actions in all 50 states, if SF gets leaders in the "missing" states listed above to do the planning.

Ahh...thanks Zerbie...I just miss read it.

[andrewlittle]

Women's right to vote was finally recognized by the dominant culture - male - who then voted to share (some of) the power they held in society. Where it failed is that the bulk of the actions by the male legislators and voters (women couldn't vote to pass it, remember) was conceived by males. Males did not rally behind females and support and adopt the issues of suffrage, but rather crafted laws in ways that retained some dominance for males.

Likewise, with racial rights. Black Americans were not in the position to grant equity to themselves. The dominant culture - Euro-America - had to get on board. The problem here, also, was that the laws passed did not embrace the ideals and issues of the Civil Rights movement, but those of the white culture trying to be fair from their own prespective.

The proof in the pudding is the continued existence of bias and inequity based on race and gender. People of color earn less than whites. Women earn less than men. Women of color earn less than men of color. Hispanic and latino men and women earn less than their black counterparts. Inequity continues to exist because the dominant culture still drives the damn bus.

In the "Straight Nights" effort in particular, and the GLBTQ... civil rights battle generally, care has to be taken to set aside the ideals and goals of hetero allies, and simply to show support for those issues and goals as formulated by the GLBTQ... community for the GLBTQ... community.

The aim, as I see it, is to rally straight supporters of GLBT designed solutions to inequality. As a hetero ally, I must be vocal and active, but not just about the solutions as I see them. I must be inequivically supportive of solutions as GLBTQ... organizations envision them.

The roll of the ally is not to solve the problem for GLBTQ... folk - it is to support the solution of the problem that is envisioned by those who suffer from inequity. To that end, this can not be just straight allies - it has to include a lot of education and planning by the GLBTQ... community - in this case, Soulforce, since it is the organization that is planning the strategy.

To be truly equitable I, as a straight ally, have to acknowledge that my plan would enanate from my own concern about maintaining at least some of my hetero privilege. I must, to be an effective ally, break the patterns that have gone before and put my full weight behind promoting the solutions as envisioned by and for the GLBTQ... community.

Even if the only people present at these events were straight allies, which I hope not be the case, the stand must be for full legal recognition and inclusion as voiced by the oppressed themselves. That is the only way straights can stand in solidarity - as allies in your cause.

[Zerbie]

Originally Posted by andrewlittle

In the "Straight Nights" effort in particular, and the GLBTQ... civil rights battle generally, care has to be taken to set aside the ideals and goals of hetero allies, and simply to show support for those issues and goals as formulated by the GLBTQ... community for the GLBTQ... community.

The aim, as I see it, is to rally straight supporters of GLBT designed solutions to inequality. As a hetero ally, I must be vocal and active, but not just about the solutions as I see them. I must be inequivically supportive of solutions as GLBTQ... organizations envision them.

The roll of the ally is not to solve the problem for GLBTQ... folk - it is to support the solution of the problem that is envisioned by those who suffer from inequity. To that end, this can not be just straight allies - it has to include a lot of education and planning by the GLBTQ... community - in this case, Soulforce, since it is the organization that is planning the strategy.

To be truly equitable I, as a straight ally, have to acknowledge that my plan would enanate from my own concern about maintaining at least some of my hetero privilege. I must, to be an effective ally, break the patterns that have gone before and put my full weight behind promoting the solutions as envisioned by and for the GLBTQ... community.

Even if the only people present at these events were straight allies, which I hope not be the case, the stand must be for full legal recognition and inclusion as voiced by the oppressed themselves. That is the only way straights can stand in solidarity - as allies in your cause.

Ya know, ideally I would love to see the events always be a mixed crowd. But on the occasions when I've attended events FOR concerns of interest to the LGBT community, well, those events have been 99% all gay people. I've often found myself wondering why more straight people aren't there. Then along comes this plan.

Andy - I just feel very differently about it not being yours to have a vision for the community as a whole. Why wouldn't you? It is already too much perceived that concerns that impact gay people most directly are only theirs, and too much ignored how the effects of homophobia - both institutionalized and personal - devastate straight people as well. We all need to be involved because the cause belongs to all of us.

[tdogg]

Originally Posted by Alecto

At the risk of asking an exceedingly silly question, are there parallel events during the week for the actual gay folk? Or perhaps room in the organizing for gay folk? It seems....weird to have an event in solidarity "for" us that we pretty much can't have anything to do with.

But there are things you can do! Get your straight family and friends to contact SF or the state leaders and see how they can become involved. YOU provide the encouragement and line of communication. Maybe you can see about supplying needs, such as water??? Get the word out, strum up enthusiasm, be on the forums to welcome new members we might get out of these actions.

There is SO much to do!