International Day Against Homophobia is May 17th. To help spread the word and get people thinking about what homophobia is, what kinds of damage it can cause, and how we can all help to combat such discrimination and hatred, I’m participating in the Blog Hop Against Homophobia.

To view links to all the blogs participating in the hop and how you can enter each giveaway, go to http://hopagainsthomophobia.blogspot.com.

Keep reading for details on how to enter to win a copy of my latest eBook TAKE ME HOME.

SLOAN’S MESSAGE ABOUT HOMOPHOBIA

There are many ways people discriminate. One I’d like to share about today is discrimination through the support of laws that continue to ban gay marriage, or more precisely the act of discriminating by not supporting marriage equality.

There are many people who do not consider themselves to be homophobic. They know (and often love) gay men and women. They’re family and friends and coworkers and neighbors of LGBT people. They say they have no issues with gay relationships. Yet, they do not believe we need a federal law for marriage equality. They do not understand or acknowledge that gay and lesbian couples need the same protections afforded heterosexual marriages. Perhaps they are in favor of civil unions or some other designation for gays and lesbians, but are opposed to calling it marriage.

The thing is…Separate is not equal. Unequal leaves a lot of room for discrimination to occur, leaves room for legal interpretations that are not the same as the rights automatically granted to married couples.

A scenario like the video I’ve included below, and even worse—not being allowed to say good-bye or to care for my partner in an emergency—is a fear I live with every day. Without going into a long history of our lives, I’ll just say situations similar to what you’ll hear about in this video are a very real possibility in my life.

And yeah, that scares the hell out of me. Even after 20+ years of living with my partner, and no matter how many legal documents we sign, we are not married.

I have a roommate.

If you’re unsure about the federal government stepping in to legalize gay marriage, to protect gay and lesbian couples under the same rights as heterosexual marriages, please watch this video to the very end, and give it some thought.

What if that was you? What if that was your child?

Direct link to the video

Here’s what Shane says on the video’s YouTube page:

“It has been said that sharing personal stories is one of the most effective ways to change people’s hearts and minds. This is my story and I hope you are inspired to share it with others.”

For more information on combating homophobia, to donate to a worthy cause, or learn about more ways you can help, check out these sites:

• Americans for Marriage Equality
• The Coalition for Equal Marriage (UK)
• The Trevor Project
• Stop The Hate
• GLADD
• Straight But Not Narrow
• PFLAG
• GLBT National Help Center

SLOAN’S GIVEAWAY

I’m giving away an ebook copy of Take Me Home for the Blog Hop Against Homophobia. To enter, leave a comment on this blog post stating you’d like to enter the giveaway. If you are unable to leave a comment for any reason, shoot me an email and I’ll add your comment for you.

Be sure to include a valid email address in the email form field in order to be entered in the drawing. Your email address is for my use only (in order to contact the winner). It will NOT be published on the blog or used for marketing/promotional purposes.

This contest ends at 11:59 pm EST on May 20th.

The winner will be randomly selected on May 21st and contacted via email. I’ll also post the winning name in a new post on the blog.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out Shane’s video!!
Sloan