A Conversation With a Straight Ally

I had a really good conversation last night with a prominent straight ally about the HERO hearings. He talked about his surprise over the vitriol and hate of the opposition and how impressed he was with Mayor Parker's calm and measured response. I'm not taking anything away from Mayor Parker here, but I told this ally that members of our community are used to that kind of response, we expect it, we deal with it daily. There's a reason that Parker, Laster and Gallegos were able to calmly deal with the hate while the straight supporters of HERO either got angry or bolted for the door (I'm looking at you Boykins): you can not survive as an LGBT person unless you learn to deal with that kind of hate... and I mean that literally. When we talk about youth suicide, when we talk about the high rates of addiction and depression - this is what we are talking about. You can not survive as an LGBT person unless you learn to deal with that kind of hate. 

So thank you, ally, for your compliment of our mayor, but I hope you find a way to see that your surprise and shock is a byproduct of your straight privilege. We deal with this everyday.