Alternative to Day Without a Gay December 7, 2008

Alternative to Day Without a Gay

By Guest Contributor
December 7, 2008

This Wednesday, gay rights supporters are encouraged to celebrate Day without a Gay:

On December 10, you are encouraged not to call in sick to work. You are encouraged to call in “gay” — and donate your time to service!

That’s not possible for everyone, though.

SarahH let me know of an alternative way to show your support: Project Postcard, where you send a postcard to Barack Obama letting him know you want him to support (or at least tell Congress to support) equal rights legislation.

She writes:

This is a huge separation of church/state issue as well as an epic civil rights battle, and I think atheists want to be involved in the fight for justice.

Damn right we do.

There are plenty of gaytheists and straight allies who can afford the stamp and postcard.

It’s a simple but meaningful gesture.

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  • Idir

    I sent one!
    And I said quite a lot, and not only about queer issues…

  • Just imagine if 10% of the people you work with just didn’t turn up one day…I mean 10% more. That’s five people in my office or forty five in the company whose work someone else would have to cover.

    I’m not sure that it would raise sympathy or support for homosexuals but I could certainly lend my support in other ways. After all being gay has no direct affect on me at all, one way or another.

  • hoverFrog,

    The idea is to call in “gay” and spend the day volunteering for charity. It would lend more visibility to the homosexual community, while benefiting a charitable cause. Plus, on a deeper level, it’s a great responce to the constant pathologizing and othering of LGBTQ people.

  • SarahH

    I’m not working on the 10th anyway, so it doesn’t exactly send a message for me to not show up when I’m not scheduled.

    I sent my postcard yesterday, and I’m going to try to spread the news to everyone I know who might send one. It’s such a simple thing, but a flood of postcards can send a giant message.

  • Milena, I do get that. It’s just that not turning up for work for whatever reason has knock on effects that can be seen as negative by co-workers. If someone has to come in on their first day off in a fortnight to cover your shift they aren’t going to care if you’re making a statement or not. It’ll just be “The Gay” making a fuss again.

    It’s a good idea in principle and one bound to raise awareness but sometimes these things can go wrong. You wouldn’t want people thinking that homosexuals and their supporters want a special status when all that is desired is equality.

  • TXatheist

    My birthday…who knew? And I already scheduled the day off…now what do I do to help the cause? Decisions.