National Day Without a Gay

by Michael Jones · 2008-11-18 20:21:00 UTC
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Day Without a GayA day without gays would be a day without love.  That's what organizers of the December 10 "National Day Without a Gay" campaign are pitching, urging LGBT people and their allies to mark a historic stance against hatred and marriage discrimination by taking the day off of work and volunteering for a social justice cause.

Building off the impact of this past weekend's "Join the Impact" rallies nationwide, Sean Hetherington and his boyfriend Aaron Hartzler decided to create a site that would organize LGBT people and their allies to call in "Gay" from work.  The result, http://daywithoutagay.org, launched this past weekend.  In addition to urging folks to call in "gay," the site takes an extra step and urges people to spend the time away from the office volunteering for a socially just cause.  The site even has a section that will allow non-profits to request volunteers for the day.

Of course, there are still 30 states where someone can be fired legally for calling in to work gay.  But the site has that covered, too, with a section of action suggestions for those people who live in states where workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation is a serious threat.

Check out the site, and visit them on Facebook and Twitter, too.  If you work at a non-profit that would like volunteers on the "National Day Without a Gay," add your information to the site.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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