More thoughts about being an Ally...

(posted by Eva, '12)
When I was tabling this week, I was struck by one response I repeatedly got when I asked people “What does being an ally mean to you”: I’m not an ally because I’m gay. An ally is someone that fights for a cause that is not their own, so I can see their line of logic. However, being an ally is not something that is limited to the LGBTQ community. We can be allies to any group. You can be an ally to different religious communities, to different racial, ethnic, or class groups, to really any group that isn’t your own, but that you feel strongly about. And, being queer, I think that being an ally to others becomes even more important. How can we expect people to be our allies if we aren’t theirs? Also, just because you are queer doesn’t mean that you can’t be an ally to other members of the queer community. I see myself as being an ally to the intersex community, the gay male community, and the bisexual community, none of which I consider myself to be a part of. I guess I was just struck by how many times I heard this response and was wondering what you thought about this issue.