‘Come Out. Speak Out. Vote.’ is the theme for this year’s National Coming Out Day, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation announced.
‘This year, we need more than ‘I’m gay and it’s OK.’ We need our families and friends to say ‘It’s not OK to use gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues as a wedge,” said Cheryl Jacques, president of the Human Rights Campaign. ‘We must talk to and involve our families and friends. Their voices are some of the strongest in the fight for equality.’
In December, the HRC Foundation conducted a poll that found while 77 percent of respondents consider themselves ‘out,’ only 32 percent talk to their parents about public policy issues, and only 46 percent talk to their brothers and sisters about such topics. Respondents were much more likely to speak frankly with casual acquaintances (57 percent) or coworkers (54 percent).
See www.hrc.org.