Reframing the Debate

There is a debate over equality going on all over the country. The discussions are over important life events such as gay marriage; adoption; gay-inclusive nondiscrimination clauses and hate-crimes laws; gay-friendly immigration reform; gay-supportive school groups; and much more.

Many of those who are opposed to broadening human rights have tried to make the argument that “outsiders” and “radical homosexual activists” are trying to take something that’s not theirs. Acting as if they are the sole beneficiaries of Freedom’s promise, they point fingers and declare war against seemingly faceless, nameless “others.”

We think they’re wrong. We know that gay and lesbian Americans are our neighbors, too. They do not live somewhere else—they live right here: next door, down the street, up on the sixth floor, and in the retirement home. They are our friends and relatives. They go to school with us, work beside us, are behind us at the grocery store line, and sit next to us at the movie theater. They serve and protect us, teach us, heal us, and comfort us in times of need. Every day, gay and lesbian Americans contribute to our community, our economy, and our way of life.

Dehumanizing and discriminating against LGBT people is wrong. But the vocal opponents of equality don’t want you to think of gay and lesbian people as people. Once you do, you understand that they share the same desires for happiness, companionship, and love that heterosexuals do.

“I Am Your Neighbor” is a growing grass-roots campaign for those who want to help make visible that which has been largely invisible. Misguided leaders want to divide us, biblical literalists choose whichever interpretation supports their hate-filled rhetoric, and we all pay the price for allowing this to continue.

By letting others know what you already know—gay and lesbian Americans and their allies are everywhere, and are not invisible scapegoats—we can change the debate one neighbor at a time.

Please join your neighbors in reframing the debate.