50 Ways to Support Lesbian and Gay Equality: The Complete Guide to Supporting Family, Friends, Neighborsor Yourself...

by Meredith Maran (Editor), Angela Watrous (Contributor)

Written by straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people and those that care about them, 50 Ways to Support Gay and Lesbian Equality is a compendium of informative, joyful, practical and poignant essays by well-known experts and leaders, each promoting understanding while suggested simple actions. Issues include:

• Defining terminology (What a tranny? What’s gay baiting?)
• Exploring family issues ("Should I come out to my parents on Thanksgiving?" "How can I support a lesbian couple who want to have children?")
• How to support gay rights around the world

A timely and much-needed guide, 50 Ways demonstrates positive ways for both straight and gay people to respond to everyday discrimination and misunderstandings, bringing the world closer to the true meaning of equality.

A powerful call-to-action series, "Action Guides," was launched with the New York Times bestselling MoveOn’s 50 Ways to Love Your Country, followed by NCWO’s 50 Ways to Improve Women’s Lives. The third book in the series—50 Ways to Support Lesbians and Gays—features 50 personal, inspiring essays with "Action Guide" sidebars collected by bestselling Meredith Maran and series editor Angela Watrous.

Genres: Nonfiction, Lesbian, LGBT, Gay

208 pages, Paperback

First published May 9, 2005

About the author

MEREDITH MARAN is the author of more than a dozen nonfiction books, including Why We Write About Ourselves, Why We Write, and My Lie; and the acclaimed 2012 novel, A Theory of Small Earthquakes. She's a book critic and essayist for newspapers and magazines including the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and Salon.com. The recipient of fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and Yaddo, and a member of the National Book Critics Circle, Meredith lives in a restored historic bungalow in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for anyone interested in LGBT issues and wondering how they can be supportive. For members of the community, this book can serve as affirmation. For their allies, this book provides lessons and advice. For anyone needing to learn more, this book will provide information and lessons. As the title suggests, this book gives 50 ways to support LGBT equality. Though the editors used "Lesbian and Gay" in the title, the book is more comprehensive and diverse looking at issues for transgender and bisexual people as well.

The book is arranged in sections, and each section contains a short essay. The authors are a diverse group representing various interests and communities. Some are activists. Others are authors. All have a common interest. At the end of each essay, specific suggestions are given for ways to support the cause. I borrowed this book from my library, but this is one I would like to have on my own reference shelf. It is informative and educational. In addition, the short sections make it a very easy book to read. You can read it through as I did, or you can browse and find what interests you. It is also a book that lends itself to multiple readings.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interesting in LGBT equality. If for no other reason because LGBT equality is our cause, and besides it being a matter of human decency, if we do not speak out, we may as well be the next ones to suffer discrimination. I think I would like to recommend this book to librarians as well in order to be better informed on the subject, and the book belongs in just about any library collection.

[Misha Mayhem · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is pretty much what I expected. It gave me some insight into queer history. It sensed a little hostility toward the heterosexual community in general... but otherwise, it was cool.