Being an ALLY
An Ally advocates and supports LGBTQA people. Being an ally is an ongoing process of commitment to work with and for the LGBTQA and other communities experiencing prejudice and discrimination to celebrate diversity, encourage mutual respect, and create a safe environment for all people on a personal and professional level.
Four stages of being an Ally:
- Awareness: explore how you are similar and different from LGBTQA people
- Knowledge/Education: begin to understand policies, laws, & practices and how they affect LGBTQA people
- Skills: learn to take your awareness and knowledge and communicate it to others in effective ways
- Action: appropriate action is the way to create change
CHARACTERISTICS of an ALLY:
- Listen openly.
- Actively pursue a process of self-education. Learn about the history and culture of target groups.
- Acknowledge and take responsibility for your own socialization, prejudice and privilege.
- Be willing to examine and relinquish privileges.
- Learn about and take pride in your own identities.
- Identify your own self-interest in acting as an ally.
- Make friends with people who are different.
- Know resources about and for target groups.
- Educate others.
- Take a public stand against discrimination and prejudice.
- Interrupt prejudice and take action against oppression even when people from the target group are not present.
- Risk discomfort.
- Do not be self-righteous with others (especially other dominant group members).
- Challenge the internalized oppression of people in target groups.
- Support the value of separate meetings/events/activities for members of target and agent groups.
- Have a vision of a healthy multicultural society.
Responding to Heterosexism on Campus, Diversity Works Training Manual, 1991.