"A day without gays would be tragic because it would be a day without love". Ummm...
This is rather silly.

Isn't the sort-of joke for bosses who think being gay is a disease "Sorry, can't come in today, still gay... tomorrow's not looking good either"?

I've always thought these kinds of protests ignored all the people who don't have the option to call in to work. Sick days are a luxury.

The way more clever counter to this idea is to stamp (or write with a sharpie) on all your cash "this is gay money" and then go out and spend it normally. For a nation so deeply focused on a failing economy, let them see the power of the gay dollar. and how much fun is it that yes-on-8 assholes will end up getting change that says "this is gay money". ha.

oh and pinkpicnic-- folks that can't call in gay are asked to not spend any money that day. the class implications of "calling in gay" have been talked about a lot but I'm with you.

I think it's a very clever idea, but my first thought upon seeing this advertisement (which I think has been circling Facebook for a few weeks now) was that I'm not sure how successful it will be because it assumes that people who are gay have successfully come out to their bosses in the past. . .I feel like there are a lot of people who would be unwilling to participate because of consequences they might face. Those consequences might be against every anti-discrimination law on the books, but they still have the potential to complicate people's lives enormously.

My boss has met my husband, and I'm calling in gay! (I'll be taking a day without pay because we aren't even allowed to take sick days, though we theoretically have them. Lawyers are the worst!) I called the local soup kitchen to see if they minded gay volunteering. It's run by a Jesuit organization. The priest said, and this is a direct quote, "I don't care who feeds these people, they need to eat."

My husband has been crossing out "in god we trust" for quite some some now (we're atheists), so I think he'll get a kick out of writing "this is gay money" on all our cash!

I have two part time jobs and both my respective bosses are gay (er, one gay, one lesbian). If I called in "gay", I imagine they'd just laugh & tell me that they have to work, so I do too.
It's a innovative idea, but I don't see how it would be particularly effective political strategy in my situation.

I guess I can see this as an awareness thing--a lot of people seem to think no one they know is gay. But I do somewhat resent that this is the "great activist project" we've come up with. Particularly in this economy, how can anyone just be expected to "call in gay"? I know I can't afford it, and I have what's generally considered a good job. I like the idea, but the whole thing strikes me as alienating for a lot of people.

Worker: Hey boss, I'm not coming in to work today because I have political activity to do that is much more impotant than doing the job I'm contractually obligated to. See you tomorrow.

Me as the boss: Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time for that now. Take the rest of your life off.

That's my response for any and all political cause take the day off call ins. Your boss may be more forgiving and just give that promotion to the guy or gal who shows up for work and does their activism on their own time.

I really love social action activism and am all for spreading awareness, but have a few issues with this.

1. Why would workers who DO have a supportive working environment want to punish their employer by missing work?

2. I'm not sure how flaking out on work is spreading a message of equality or helping sway people to be more gay-friendly.

3. What about the people who can't or don't want to come out the their employers?

4. As others have mentioned, there are troubling class implications in this idea.

I know that there's the "well, if you can't take the day off work, just go volunteer another time or don't spend money that day"...but then what is the point of this? I think time and energy would be better spent on an action that more people can do instead of being kind of an alienating and divisive project. Maybe focus on either "Don't spend money this day" or "Volunteer on this day."

Joined because I wanted to comment here -- lurking for about a year.

Anyhow!

I think the idea is in the right place, but the implementation is a bit short-sighted. I would think a better idea would be to root out the businesses that have anti-gay policies or anti-gay top officials and boycotting them. There will be choices we can make as a community which affect out in the corporate world without punishing our employers.

I, for one, am not going to call in sick because I find my employer LGBT supportive and I also am sensitive to the idea that this protest doesn't affect anyone aside from the person calling out -- making a backlog of work for them the next day. The problem is that it takes the idea of "boycotting classes" for a political cause and assumes it can translate into the professional realm, which it often times can't.

It also mislabels ALL businesses and industries as homophobic which is the type of blanket statement the LGBT community should avoid, since we're seeking acceptance and full rights.

"Particularly in this economy, how can anyone just be expected to 'call in gay'? I know I can't afford it, and I have what's generally considered a good job. I like the idea, but the whole thing strikes me as alienating for a lot of people."

Good points. It can be alienating both for people who can't afford to take a day off from their jobs and people who no longer have jobs to take a day off from...

I don't even work that day! I like the 'this is gay money' idea a lot!! I think I'll have some fun with that! Also, I can never do the 'day of silence' because i work in retail.

I thought it was a bit much...but a grassroots effort is always useful

This is not about being gay, it's about power and the gay's want to see how far they can push the rest of us around.

Like a spoiled child that wants what they want, not because they want it but to see if they can get away with it.

As for me, lets just send them to their room, "you act like a child I'll treat you like one".
Stop accepting this idea that your sexual behavior separates you from who you are.

I think that "calling in stupid" would suffice in making the same statement.

So far, I've placed a poll on my site to see if anyone did participate in "Day Without A Gay" and so far the results are saying no.

I love the idea however, this is very difficult to measure much less pull off effectively...especially in a short amount of time. I'm openly gay and run my own online gay magazine that focuses on making a positive impact in the gay community, so it would have been counterproductive of me to call "out."

However, the fight should continue for people to come out and fight for equality for all.

Cheers,
Bambi Weavil
OutImpact.com - Making a positive impact in the gay community. Make yours.