The queer community has been fighting for recognition, equality, visibility and much more for so long. Even if you are not part of this community, you can still actively support it.
In this article, we will show you how.
Ally – what does that mean?
In the queer community, an ally or straight ally is a person who is heterosexual and cisgender and uses his/her socially privileged position to actively campaign against discrimination against the queer community.
However, allys are to be distinguished from advocates. Advocates work as advocates to speak on behalf of a particular group (in this case the queer community) and to educate on issues that affect that group. They are often part of the community themselves.
Do you want to help, but don’t know exactly how? Below we give you a few tips on how you can support the queer community.
Outside the bubble
Educate yourself on queer issues and look outside your bubble. Watch documentaries, listen to podcasts, read books (preferably by queer people)… There are many possibilities open to you.
Exchange
Get in touch with people from the LGBTQIA+ community and offer your support. There are many voluntary associations where you can make new contacts or help out. See if you can find one near you.
Solidarity
Show solidarity with the queer community. Demonstrations or CSD parades are a good way to show your support. But you should also stand up for the queer community on social media, among your friends, family or at work, for example when discriminatory comments are made, regardless of whether a queer person is present or not.
Donations
Queer associations, organisations and projects are often dependent on financial donations. We can recommend the project 100% MENSCH to you. They work for more education, visibility and equality.
Openness
It is also helpful to introduce yourself to other people with your pronouns or to ask them for their pronouns. This has a de-stigmatising effect on non-binary or trans* people.
What are we doing as a company to support the LGBTQIA+ community?
We at matabooks also want to actively support the queer community and its visibility. Therefore, we launched our own notebook collection at the beginning of June, which is supposed to represent the diversity and range of the queer community with its nine designs. The message is to be proud of who you are and to live out who you are. One of the designs comes from Jasmin and Steffi from the queer shop BeeProud.de, with whom we cooperated closely in the creation of our notebooks and who were able to give us some helpful tips on queer issues. We donate a part of the proceeds of our Pride Collection to the project 100% MENSCH to support their valuable and important work. In addition, the Matacrew deals with queer issues both in the office and privately and constantly tries to learn more. Our door is open, no matter what sexual orientation or identity, everyone is allowed to join our team. Are you interested in working with us or do you know someone? We are always looking for new team members and are happy to receive applications! We also use our social media channels, newsletter, blog etc. to give the queer community a platform beyond Pride Month. Do you have more tips for us on what we can do to be a better Ally? Feel free to write it in the comments!
Sources:
www.therapeuticconversations.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Reynolds-2010-Fluid-and-Imperfect-Allies-Queer-Theory-Context-UK.pdf
www.echte-vielfalt.de/lebensbereiche/lsbtiq/was-ist-eigentlich-ein-ally-und-wie-kann-ich-einer-sein/
www.zeitjung.de/was-ist-ein-ally-gesellschaft-allyship-engagement-definitionen/
www.guidetoallyship.com
www.100mensch.de/