The article, Our Differences Do Not Have To Become Our Divisions, was written by Jessica DeBruin and posted June 20, 2016 on Everyday Democracy‘s site. DeBruin wrote this article in memory of the 49 victims from the Orlando massacre at Pulse nightclub, an LGBTQIA club. In the article, DeBruin shares her experience as a queer person in the aftermath of the massacre and calls for the urgent need to improve the civic process by demanding the need to ensure the voices of marginalized folks are at […] (continue)

The 7-page article, Repairing the Breach: The Power of Dialogue to Heal Relationships and Communities (2014), by Robert Stains Jr was published in Journal of Public Deliberation: Vol. 10: Iss. 1. Dialogue has an incredible power to create a space for individuals to come together and work through difficult conversations that may have previously been felt by the participants as an insurmountable task. Public Conversations Project use of the Reflexive Structured Dialogue process creates an opportunity for a profound shift in conversations, as participants share their own personal stories, emotions […] (continue)

The 6-page article, The Compost of Disagreement: Creating Safe Spaces for Engagement and Action (2014), by Michele Holt-Shannon and Bruce Mallory, was published in Journal of Public Deliberation: Vol. 10: Iss. 1. The authors describe the experience coordinating the New Hampshire Listens campaign to address the growing concern around aggressive and combative many public events were becoming from mid-1990s and on. Over years of experience, they found that the more diverse and varied the participants and experiences, the richer the conversation that would emerge. And in order to do so, it […] (continue)

The article written by Jessica DeBruin, The Greatest History Lessons Are Those We Have Yet to Learn, was published August 2015 on Everyday Democracy‘s site. DeBruin shares some of her history, how it shaped her identity, and explores how our identities play out in our conversations and realities. She emphasizes the importance genuinely listening and participating in conversations where we explore the intersections of our own privilege and oppression. Below is an excerpt from the article and read it in full on Everyday Democracy’s site here. From […] (continue)

Jacob Z. Hess is a Mormon, a community psychologist, and a devoted conservative, while Phil Neisser is an atheist, a leftist, and a college professor. Yet in 2009, after meeting at an NCDD conference, they embarked on a two-year conversation about the issues that divide them. The result is “You’re not as Crazy as I Thought,” an entertaining dialogue about power, government, media, religion, morality, gender roles, sexual orientation, race, and more. Drawing on the latest debates in social and political theory, Hess and Neisser […] (continue)

GLSEN works to create safe and effective schools for LGBT students. Although its focus is on primary and secondary schools, some of its resources - which include background on why an organization like GLSEN is necessary, tools to help ensure safe schools, information on current legal and political battles over safety for LGBT students, classroom curricula and lesson plans, and tools to assist with local organizing/training - may be of a more general interest. (continue)

Discrimination of all types is typically a result of unearned privilege or unearned oppression. As allies, it is always in our best interest to fight against unearned privilege and oppression, whether or not we feel we directly suffer from its consequences. This document demonstrates how we all pay the price for homophobia. (continue)

The largest national LGBT organization, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) bills itself as 'a bipartisan organization that works to advance equality based on sexual orientation and gender expressing and identity, to ensure that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community.' The scope of the information on HRC's website is immense, and it is typically broken down by issue (same sex marriage, transgender issues, lesbians and gays in the military, workplace discrimination, etc.). (continue)

This 20-minute group exercise is adapted from Social Norms Theory and the work of the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley. The exercise encourages heterosexual ally behavior by exploring the ways in which faulty assumptions perpetuate anti-LGBT bias. It may be adapted for use with adult and student audiences. (continue)

A national organization, Lambda Legal pursues litigation, education, and public policy work to secure full civil rights for LGBT people as well as those with HIV or AIDS. Lambda Legal's web site primarily documents its legal work, and as such can provide a good overview of current legal issues of concern to LGBT people. (continue)