Talking About LGBT Issues Series
The Talking About LGBT Issues series is a set of research-based resources designed to help shape discussions with conflicted or undecided Americans—and help them better understand key issues of importance to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.
In conversations about marriage, employment protections and non-discrimination laws, adoption and parenting, military service or hate crimes, it can often be easy to fall back on abstract jargon or angry rhetoric that can derail discussions with those who are not familiar with the issues. These guides offer ways that LGBT organizations, community members and allies alike can build common ground with moveable audiences, show them how their actions (or inaction) can hurt gay and transgender people, and help them understand issues of LGBT equality through the lenses of their own values and beliefs.
Equality for LGBT people is really about basic human values and needs: the ability of everyday Americans to pursue health and happiness, earn a living, be safe in their communities, serve their country, and take care of the ones they love. And when we move away from abstract, technical language and toward discussions that connect people to common ground and common values, true understanding can take root. The Talking About LGBT Issues series is geared toward helping those who are conflicted or undecided better understand the issues, and toward helping them recognize the importance of and need for their support.
The pursuit of equality is about everyday Americans who want the same chance as everyone else to pursue health and happiness, earn a living, be safe in their communities, serve their country, and take care of the ones they love.
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UPDATED! The words we use to talk about LGBT issues can have a powerful impact on our discussions. The right words can open hearts and minds, while others can create confusion, distance or a sense of being overwhelmed.
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NEW! This two-page guide of key terms to use and avoid also provides new allies with a snapshot of approaches for talking about non-discrimination laws, marriage, adoption and more. Adapted from An Ally's Guide to Terminology
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To build and sustain support for the freedom to marry, focus on the values of marriage, how exclusion from marriage hurts same-sex couples, and how our shared beliefs are at the heart of people's growing support for marriage.
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Focus conversations about parenting, adoption and LGBT parents on how they create loving, stable homes for kids and help ensure that children have the nurturing environment that allows them to thrive and succeed.
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When anti-LGBT activists attack non-discrimination laws using false claims about safety in public bathrooms, we can counter those attacks by refocusing people on their core values of fairness and equality.
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An overwhelming majority of African Americans agree that LGBT people experience discrimination. However using term “civil rights” to describe LGBT equality can hinder those conversations and that support.
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Latinos tend to be strong supporters of fairness and equality for LGBT people, and conversations that focus on shared values of family, respect, faith and opposition to discrimination can build even greater acceptance.
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Safe public discussions about suicide can play a critical role in increasing acceptance of
LGBT people and supporting their well-being, while minimizing the risk of a phenomenon known as suicide contagion.
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The vast majority of Americans support inclusive employment protections that protect hardworking, high-performing employees from being unfairly fired from their jobs just because they’re gay or transgender.
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Hate crimes are meant to send a message of fear and intimidation to an entire group or class of people. Inclusive hate crimes laws are about saying that violence against gay and transgender people is not OK.
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The law known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which is currently in the process of being repealed, has put our country and our security at risk by discharging essential, patriotic service members just because they’re gay.
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