Are You an Ally or Are You Anonymous?

LGBT|LGBTQ| Allyship | Love

How to start standing up for your LGBTQ loved one today.

A lot of families feel surprised or shocked when a loved one comes out as LGBTQ. Their entire thought process usually tunes into their own feelings. How can this be? What did I do to make my son gay? What will the pastor at church think? How can I possibly accept this when it goes against the Bible? Are you sure you aren’t just going through a phase? There are myriad ways to respond to this information. Most of them are incredibly selfish.

It’s not unusual to feel overwhelmed with the announcement. Some families and friends were pretty sure they knew the truth a long time ago. For others, it comes right out of the left field.

There’s a single bottom line, though. Your LGBTQ loved one NEEDS you to be an ally and come alongside them through this journey. They are afraid of being rejected and facing a lifetime of bias from others. So how do you become an ally instead of staying anonymous by keeping everything a big secret so nobody knows?

Let’s take a look at the word ALLY and see what we get.

A longside

The bottom line here is your LGBTQ loved one wants you to walk alongside them through life. They want to be accepted, just like everyone else. A person’s sexual identity doesn’t define who they are. It simply defines who they are attracted to. Period. Walking alongside them is simply common decency and care.

L ove

It’s such a simple word. Love. We all want it. We all give it to some. We all should be able to love whoever we want. But what I really want you to stop and think about is this. Right now, today, right after you hear this news, do you honestly love your person any less than you did an hour ago? Your son, your daughter, your parent, your friend? Have they changed in personality in any way? (hint: the answer is no) All you really need to do is continue to love someone who you have always loved. Easy-peasy, right?

L earning

This one is huge! If you’re anything like I was when I began this journey, you probably don’t know a whole lot about the LGBTQ community. Take…

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