Changing Minds – Hop Against Homophobia

Posted on by

Writing a blog about homophobia was tricky.  I very rarely write – books or blogs – about heavy, serious subjects.  I adore happy ever afters, I’m not a political animal and I despise conflict. But just because I appear to be a fluffy bunny doesn’t mean I don’t have strong feelings or opinions.

I’m a straight, white woman rapidly approaching 40.  I have never experienced homophobia personally.  I have, however, had my thoughts and opinions dismissed out of hand simply because I am a woman.  I have been judged based on my appearance and I’ve been bullied.  I know this is not on par with what gay and transgendered people have to endure in some parts of the world, or on a daily basis in some realm of their life.  But my limited experience allows me, as an author, to extrapolate that feeling, to project that into a character, and indirectly, to affect a reader’s emotions.

Yes, I write to entertain.  Yes, I write to placate the voices in my head like any other author.  But if my writing, if my characters can make even one person look at GLBT people with acceptance or support, then I believe I’ve accomplished something good.  Worthy.  I’m not going to change the world all on my own, but I might be able to change one mind. One mind is one step in the right direction, I hope.

Thing is, I bet most of you hopping through these blogs don’t need your mind changed.  If you’re not GLBT yourselves, you’re allies and supporters.

Here’s the contest bit:  Tell me your favourite GLBT cause or charity. I’m offering up one ebook — choice of my backlist — to a randomly chosen commenter who comments before May 21.  And, because I do want to help change minds (more than one book at a time) I’m going to donate $1 for each comment, to the GLBT cause or charity that gets the most “votes”.  Just in case, I’m going to cap it at $100 (I’m not exactly rolling in dough).  Since I might fall over in surprise if I get anywhere close to 100 comments, I’ll donate a minimum of $20, no matter how few comments.

Don’t forget to leave an email address in your comment so I can contact you if you win, and check out all the other great blogs offering support!  There are over 250 m/m authors participating, and lots of great prizes to be won.

Comments

Changing Minds – Hop Against Homophobia — 43 Comments

  1. You don’t have to enter me in the competition. Just wanted to say its good to see so many people joining together to try and wipe out homophobia.

  3. Thank you very much for such a generous offer, I would like to vote for The Trevor Project. It provides crisis interventions and suicide prevention through a safe, supportive, and positive environment. They offer a nationwide 24/7 counseling hotline, a confidential Q&A forum, Online Chat, and social networking community for LGBTQ youth.

  4. KC,
    what an awesome gift! Wow. Easy, Peasy, HRC is the charity dearest to my heart. And how about this… if I win, would you contribute an extra dollar to the cause? I’ll go buy one of your books if I win, and you give up a dollar to a worthy cause. You win, I win, the cause wins. I like to work out how everyone gets the goods that mean the most. 🙂
    cherienoel@yahoo.com

  5. Thanks for your generous donation offer – i vote for the Matthew Sheperd organisation

  6. I’m going with the Trevor project. Thank you so much giving a donation to a charity, I love that!

    andreagrendahl AT gmail DOT com

  10. I feel that. I’m kinda in the same boat with the writing happily-ever-afters, and when I do come at something this angst-inducing, I tend to be a light touch. But you articulated the reason why perfectly: just writing about characters like they’re, you know, people. That’s the best. Awesome.

    I vote for the Trevor Project, I think. So many good ones.

  13. I vote for the Trevor Project also.
    Please keep on writing HEAs.

    avaliereads(at)aol(dot)com

  14. I know exactly what you mean with being a woman!
    And glad to see a Goodreads friend on this bloghop with me! 😀
    Barb

  15. I think PFLAG is good, because they were working toward inclusiveness and tolerance before a lot of people thought about these issues. Not everyone thinks they know a gay person, but everybody is a parent, a sibling, or a friend who cares about someone.

  17. I choose the Trevor Project. My heart breaks for the kids growing up without supportive parents. I can’t imagine having to endure everything on their own.

  18. Whew – the day job was so busy today I couldn’t sneak away to even reply!

    Zathyn – thanks for stopping by!

    The Trevor Project is definitely a great organization. Thanks Emiliana, Andrea, Sarah, Danny, Patricia, Avalie & Jay for voting. Emiliana – loved the summary, and Avalie, I’m not giving up my HEAs!

    Katey – you and me, we can be light touches together 🙂

    Suze & Kimberly – The Matthew Shepard Foundation & HRC are both excellent choices. Thanks for stopping by.

    Trix – I absolutely agree!

    Vic – I’ve never heard of Avert, I’ll have to look into it!

    Cherie – you’re on! If you win, that’s what we’ll do 🙂

    Chris – yeah, I think you might have my whole back list!

    Barb – great to see you here, too. I’m not on Goodreads as much as I should be, but I do love seeing what everyone reads… so voyeuristic!

    Hopefully, I’ll see a few more comments over the weekend, but either way, I’ll announce winners sometime on the 21st.

  19. Stacie – you snuck in while I was composing my epic reply! Thanks for stopping by & I’ll add you to The Trevor Project votes.

  21. Hi Michelle – glad you stopped by. Looks like the Trevor Project is firmly in the lead right now!

  25. There are so many great choices to pick from. I think I will go with the Trevor Project. Thank you for your donation. I am glad to see it is pass the min amount and I hope it gets to the max. LOL. Hopefully one day we will no longer need hops to fight something that should not need fought. Hopefully one day we can all live as equals.

    forettarose@yahoo.com

  29. To be honest before this Hop I really didn’t know about any cause or charity but after reading about a few of them I will go with the Trevor Project as well.

  30. I suspect you are right about most people reading already being supporters.

    Looking at the comments it would appear that the Trevor Project is firmly in the lead.

    I am actually doing something similar on my own blog in support of It Gets Better but since that cause is already getting a donation from me I’ll vote for the Trevor Project too since it was my second choice of organisation when I was looking at which to support duing the hop.

  31. It’s hard to chose since there are many very important organizations! I think I’ll vote for the Trevor Project, too. Don’t count me in the draw, I already got all your contemporaries! Love them! Looking forward to many more!!!

  32. I’m going to have to say the Trevor Project. I know someone who could have used them some years back, so it’s a project close to my heart.

  33. I think PFLAG really is important since it is meant to stop homophobia where it can be the worst, in the family. Thanks for the giveaway and donation!
    OceanAkers@aol.com

  37. Interesting post. Thanks for participating in the HOP.

    I vote for the Trevor Project.

  38. Woo! I’ve been on the road since Friday night, with really sketchy internet access, so I didn’t realize how many of you stopped by. It’s awesome to see so many supporters. And end of day, we’ll see how much I’m on the hook for. I’ll announce charity & contest winner sometime on the 21st.

  39. Thank you for the donation offer, you know the money will go to a good cause. I would like to vote for The Trevor Project. One of my daughter’s friends lost 2 friends in the past week, in seperate suicides. Both due to being bullied for being gay. I only wish they had reached out to The Trevor Project. Please include me in your drawing.

    Hugs,
    Pati
    JPM6966 at aol.com

  40. I’ll vote for the Trevor project.

    Thanks for participating in this hop. I’m enjoying all the great blog posts.

    penumbrareads(at)gmail(dot)com