| "Hate is not a family value." |
| . |
| GLAAD Advertising Media Program |
| Transgender Tapestry |
| Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States |
| TG Forum |
| NOW LGBTQIA Rights |
![Coming Out [Human Rights Campaign]](images/comingout_hrc.gif)
| (En) Gender |
| Laverne Cox |
| ACTRESS, REALITY TELEVISION STAR, TELEVISION PRODUCER, AND LGBT ADVOCATE |
| "More of us are living visibly and pursuing our dreams visibly, so people can say, 'Oh yeah, I know someone who is trans.' When people have points of reference that are humanizing, that demystifies difference." (TIME, Vol. 183, No. 22 | June 9, 2014) |
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| KEY DATES FOR LGBT EQUALITY |
| George Hodgman (1959-2019) |
| "Every week or so, a gay kid somewhere jumps off a bridge or slashes his wrists. I am told that a boy near here hanged himself because his father could not accept who he was. On television, I listen to the things they say, the right-wingers, and fundamentalists, and all the people who consolidate their power by hurting other people. I want to cover up the ears of kids and say, 'Do not take it in.' I took it in. I really did. I heard everything that people in the world around me said about who I was. It hurt me, but I thought I had no right to say anything because I was wrong. I didn't know what silence would cost, how it would change my life. It takes a long time to outrun the things that the world drills into you." (Bettyville: A Memoir, p. 229) |
| LESBIAN GAY BISEXUAL TRANSGENDER QUEER/QUESTIONING PLUS |
| INFORMATION, RESOURCES, SUPPORT SERVICES, ADVOCACY, ORGANIZATIONS, NEWS |
| "It has been the work of my adult life to understand deeply that the best part of me is reviled, my proudest aspect assaulted. I've had to ward off and fight back violence, disease, hate, and condemnation. I've worked to amplify my own being, not just for the right to exist, to be left alone, but to thrive and to shine. The pursuit of happiness isn't just a declaration; it's a dare to live. It's not just about law; it's about my potential. It's not only about access; it's about ascending. To live as fully gay as possible is how I am most alive. "Every gay person is a wonder. It takes enormous effort to go from cocoon to butterfly and to stay aloft daily, to defy your parents' expectations, your religious teachers, to get through childhood knowing you are different, and to stand up and say this is me when everything around you tells you to be something else, to withstand the daily reminders that make you feel isolated." (Gay Like Me: A Father Writes to His Son, p. 142) |
| TOM MIHAIL, PH.D. |
