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Arts & Entertainment
Family Friends
Review by M. Maxwell Stroud
Almost everyone in the queer community knows, or knows of, at least one or two allies. They’re the folks who are straight but not narrow. Folks who don’t pat themselves on the backs for mere tolerance, but who are active in the struggle for equal rights for GLBT people. Folks who cringe as much as we do upon hearing the expression “love the sinner, hate the sin.”
And know ‘em personally or not, I’d venture to guess that a few allies appear on our lists of favorite people. My personal list includes my best friend, my parents, my classmates and one of my legislative representatives. My girlfriend’s list starts with her brother and goes on to include the cast of Will & Grace.
Allies are an essential, albeit often overlooked, part of our community and our struggle for civil rights. In Friends & Family: True Stories of Gay America’s Straight Allies, Dan Woog explores the lives of forty allies from across the country. It’s easy to find stories that remind you of people you know and respect, but it’s just as easy to find tales of folks who surprise you with their courage and dedication.
Woog’s seamless relation of these stories leaves the reader with the impression of having sat at the kitchen table over coffee with the regular folks represented in the book. There are opportunities to connect with fiesty grandmothers, police chiefs in pride parades, members of the clergy, and even a 12-year-old ally with a loud, resonant voice.
These allies are people whose lives have been not just touched in some way by members of the GLBT community, but touched in such a way that they feel a call to action. Conversely, they have not just connected with members of the community, but have helped strengthen and shape it.
In describing the people that he met in the course of writing this book, Woog says “They do not ‘accept’ homosexuality; they embrace it. They do not ‘hope’ to see homophobia end; they work tirelessly to make it happen.”