Day without a Gay
Some same-sex marriage supporters are urging people to "call in gay" on December 10 to show how much the country relies on gays and lesbians.
Recently, there has been worldwide media attention surrounding the massive grassroots efforts for gay rights. Millions have reacted to anti-gay ballot initiatives in Arizona, Florida and Arkansas, and especially Proposition 8 in California, which reversed this year's state Supreme Court decision allowing gay marriage in the Golden State. The latest form of protest involves a call to call in “gay” to work (as opposed to sick) and donate the time to service.
Organizers of “Day without a Gay” scheduled the day of protest to coincide with International Human Rights Day and modeled the efforts after similar work stoppages by Latino immigrants who were also encouraged to perform volunteer work and refrain from spending their consumer dollars.
“Day without a Gay” was the brainchild of California gay couple Sean Hetherington and Aaron Hartzler, who after reading a call online for a daylong strike to protest the passage of Proposition 8. The couple added their own twist by making it a day of community service. They've even created a page on thier site
Hetherington and Hartzler are very much aware of the issues that may arise for some as a result of requesting a day off. With this in mind, they are asking high school students not to walk out of their classes and are assuring college students they won't be disloyal to the cause if they go ahead and take their final exams.
As for those who may not be able to “call in gay” because of the tough economic times or because they live in one of the 30 states where individuals can still be fired simply for being gay or lesbian, the website offers a number of ways to add their voices to the fight for gay equality, without missing work. The suggestions include educating others about the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and contacting elected officials requesting their support for the act which would make it illegal to discriminate against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered individuals in the workplace.
Other gay rights groups have jumped in on the cause as well. Join The Impact, the online community that launched protests last month over the passage of gay marriage bans in several states, has urged people to withdraw $80 from their bank accounts Wednesday to demonstrate the spending power of the gay community. In fact, the power of the “gay dollar” has been proven robust. A recently published study estimated that gay and lesbian consumers spend $700 billion annually.
If you're interested in volunteer opportunities around any cause including gay rights, Do Something is here to help! Head on over to our Act Now page, type in your cause, who you want to volunteer with, where and how much time you have. It doesn't matter if you only have a minute, we'll have a list of things for you to do! And, yes, you can use us to find a volunteer op for "Day without a Gay" or for any day for that matter!
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