Projects

Tent at Crossroads
A cornerstone of the activities sponsored by the Coming Out Project has been the placement of a newspaper ad in the Dallas Morning News listing individuals, businesses, and organizations who support equality, the end of discrimination, and the importance of each person living life with openness and honesty, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. In other words, they lend their names in support of what it means to "come out".

In celebration of National Coming Out Day (October 11), we will again place an ad in The Dallas Morning News. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender persons and supportive allies, each of whom donate $10 or more (which pays for the ad) to have their name included, are making an important statement by being a part of this annual public petition.

The Be Who You Are special section evolved from a long tradition of publishing a public petition in The Dallas Morning News. This section strengthens the power of the petition by becoming a means to drive home the message of equality. The special section includes articles and photos illustrating human stories behind the labels. By highlighting these positive stories, new straight allies are formed as they learn about and connect with our human struggles. Further, by celebrating the lives and contributions of LGBT citizens to society in government, business, culture and sports, the

There are a lot of ways to get involved in the community and make a difference, but few are as easy or have as much impact as a Stick Out Campaign. The mission of the Stick Out Campaign is to encourage people to come out, as straight allies or as LGBT persons, by saturating communities with LGBT-friendly or LGBT-identifying images. The HRC Equality Logo sticker is a perfect image to use since it's a strong brand with broad appeal amoung both straight and LBGT persons. It also helps that the stickers are readily available in large quantities to those willing to seriously take on the Stick Out Campaign. In truth, any available sticker that supports this mission should be considered.

Learning to live openly and freely is a process that can be very difficult for many LGBT persons and their straight allies. Many of us waste precious time and energy hiding, if only partially, this important part of our lives. For allies, coming out and defending LGBT persons can be just as difficult. However, Journey, a personal-growth workshop series has developed and evolved to be a very, very effective resource in helping people of all stripes make their next step in this liberation process.