Straight ally

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"Straight ally" is a colloquial term that describes a heterosexual person who conscientiously supports equal civil rights, gender equality, and LGBT social movements. Usually, a straight ally is inclusive of various diversity, and may have many gay and lesbian friends.

Some organizations, such as gay-straight alliances often consist predominantly of straight ally members.

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays is one national organization that works specifically to bring straight allies into the LGBT rights movement.

Prominent examples of strong allies include actors Charlize Theron, Judith Light, Ben Affleck, Brad Pitt and Stuart Townsend, director Jonathan Miller,^[1] comedian Kathy Griffin, singers Madonna, Cher and Barbra Streisand, evolutionary scientist Richard Dawkins,^[2] NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, philosopher Daniel Dennett,^[3] United States Democratic Senator Russ Feingold, Australian Greens Senator Kerry Nettle,^[4] civil rights leaders such as Coretta Scott King^[5] and Julian Bond, linguist Noam Chomsky,^[6] historian Richard Carrier,^[7] and mothers Betty DeGeneres and Judy Shepard.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

^ Horsfall, Allan; Gosling, Ray. A History of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality. Gay Monitor. Retrieved on 2006-12-02. “Other vice-presidents included:... Dr Jonathan Miller...”
^ Dawkins, Richard [2006]. “A deeply religious non-believer”, The God Delusion. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0618680004. Retrieved on 2006-12-02. “[F]ree speech is deemed not to include ‘hate speech’. But hate only has to prove it is religious, and it no longer counts as hate.... You can’t get away with saying, ‘If you try to stop me from insulting homosexuals it violates my freedom of prejudice.’ But you can get away with saying, ‘It violates my freedom of religion.’ What, when you think about it, is the difference?”
^ Dennett, Daniel. "The Bright Stuff", The New York Times, 2003-07-12. Retrieved on 2006-12-02. “I am neither gay nor African-American, but nobody can use a slur against blacks or homosexuals in my hearing and get away with it.”
^ (2003-08-05). Greens Oppose Howard Stance On Gay Marriages. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-12-02. “There are thousands of same sex couples currently raising children in Australia and providing a secure and loving environment for their children.... To support the continued discrimination against gay couples who want to marry is at best mean spirited, and at worst homophobic hysteria.”
^ Jackson, Derrick Z.. "The King who led on world peace", The Boston Globe, 2006-02-01. Retrieved on 2006-12-06. “I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice. But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King Jr. said, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'”
^ Shawn, Wallace. "Interview with Noam Chomsky" (PDF), Final Edition Magazine, Seven Stories Press, Autumn 2004. Retrieved on 2006-12-02. “So, just in our lifetime, itʼs different.... The same with gay rights. There have been big changes in consciousness, and theyʼre important, and they make it a better world.”
^ Carrier, Richard (editor). Internet Infidels June 1999 Feedback. Internet Infidels. Retrieved on 2006-12-02. “[M]orality has to do with how you actually treat people, and whether you respect their rights, not with who you date.... Social stigmatization of homosexuality... causes misery and death....”