I could be a gay kid’s mom

And even if I’m not, we all suffer from homophobia and heterosexism. But I’ve been slacking on the activism that isn’t related to health issues. Well, this is. I just let myself put it in a different category.

I got a phone bank call last night from GLSEN, the Gay-Lesbian Straight Education Network. I used to sponsor the Gay-Straight Alliance at the school where I taught, and I’ve been to three GLSEN conferences. They do important work, and I’ve been slacking in my support since I’m no longer in the classroom and my concerns these days tend to deal more with health and wellness in a medical and nutrition sense. But LGBT youth (and adults!) are still having a hard time, and their health and wellness are important. There have been two assaults in the past week at Georgetown University that involved anti-gay slurs.

So, yes, I will renew my membership. I get a lot of mail and a lot of free return address stickers for groups I may or may not want to support, but sometimes an old-fashioned phone bank calling while my son is still awake and not yet melting down – and reminding me that his future safety in school might depend on what action people are taking today – well, sometimes that’s what makes the difference.