Straight Spouse Network Comes Out and Receives a Challenge Grant

Straight spouses "come out" and talk about their mates disclosures, receive a challenge grant to help empower others.

Oakland, CA (PRWEB) October 27, 2007 -- "Let's talk about it" is the theme of this October's Coming Out Month for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons. Straight spouses of GLBT partners, current or former, too, want to talk -- about their side of the closet. They are an invisible minority, forgotten in the excitement of their partners' disclosure, the untold chapter in the history of GLBT liberation. When news broke about reported behaviors of ex-Governor Jim McGreevy, Rev.Ted Haggard, and Senator Larry Craig, and the transition of the former Largo, Florida City Manager Steve Stanton to a woman -- little was said about their wives' pain or issues. But, when examined closely, there was a wife standing next to each of them, her life turned inside out.

"Coming out month is the perfect time for straight spouses to step out of their partners closets and tell the public about the painful effects of their husbands or wives disclosure on them and their families as they encounter anti-gay and anti-trans attitudes," says Amity Buxton, Founder of the Straight Spouse Network (SSN). "The whole family suffers from societal pressures to be 'normal' and marry heterosexually."

We're at a crossroads, expanding rapidly but unable to keep up with cries for help or to develop needed programs such as outreach to the underserved, like spouses of color and spouses of transgender mates.

The Straight Spouse Network is an international, non-profit organization, headquartered in New Jersey. It provides personal, confidential peer support to help straight spouses or partners and mixed-orientation couples, cope constructively with disclosure issues and build bridges of understanding between partners, within families, and with the larger community. Up to two million straight men and women in the United States were or are married to a gay or lesbian partner. Hundreds of thousands can be added if one includes "significant others" and even more, when partners of bisexual and transgender mates are counted. They face unique issues and their own crises of identity, integrity and faith, questioning their judgment and self worth. For the majority, the marriage ends and the family breaks up within three years. Not understood by outsiders, they cope alone until they find SSN. State and country contacts, seventy support groups and six Internet groups serve thousands daily. Supported, many of them become advocates for equality for all GLBT persons. The Straight Spouse Network is one of over three hundred organizations urging the House of Representatives to pass an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

To celebrate straight spouses coming out this October, SSN has received a challenge grant of $20,000 if it can raise $20,000 by Thanksgiving. "The money will enable us to expand services for the increasing number of requests for help we're receiving," said Kathy Callori, SSN's Executive Director. "We're at a crossroads, expanding rapidly but unable to keep up with cries for help or to develop needed programs such as outreach to the underserved, like spouses of color and spouses of transgender mates."

The Straight Spouse Network welcomes donations from all its members, friends, and fellow advocates of social justice and equality. All contributions are tax-deductible, and can be made online via the organization's website. For further information on SSN's programs and the Challenge Campaign, go to http://www.straightspouse.org

Media Contact:
Dr. Amity Pierce Buxton
(510) 595-1005
(510) 301-0630
founder@straightspouse.org

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