New Allies

Never really saw yourself as connected to LGBTQ+ issues before, but think that the time has come to learn more? Did someone just come out to you and you’re asking, “What now?” Motivated to get involved by a particular issue or event? Then welcome to the world of New Allies.

What makes a new ally? Often they have some common characterstics, like an interest in:

• Understanding the challenges that friends and family who are LGBTQ+ may face
• Identifying some of the barriers that they might have to being supportive, like a fear of conflict, or even faith issues
• Looking for ways to support friends or family who have come out to them as LGBTQ+

Whether you’re here to learn more about language and terminology, find something that you can do that shows your acceptance and support of an LGBTQ+ loved one, or you want to better understand what has kept you from speaking up and getting involved in the past, you’re in the right place.

In this section for New Allies, we have suggestions of what Straight for Equality materials will be most helpful to you as you begin your ally journey, information about specific issues related to the LGBTQ+ community for you to learn more about, lots of book, film, and web recommendations, and even some suggestions of things you can start doing right now as a brand-new ally.

Hopefully this is just the start of your ally journey, of course. When you feel like you’ve built up your ally muscles, check out resources for Everyday Allies and Super Allies.