No, Really?

Report: Election took mental toll on gays

I'll bet that comes as news to anyone reading this.

Seriously, the article offers a good explanation:

"Putting the civil rights of one group to a vote takes an enormous psychological toll on members of that group, as well as on communities and on families," said Dr. Glenda Russell, a psychologist and the author of the report. "I've heard many stories about fear, sadness and a sense of loss from people all over the country."

Sense of loss? Two weeks of feeling like I was at a funeral is more like it.

The report outlined strategies to help people work through those feelings. It said LGBT people should analyze the homophobia present in the campaign, take action to resist anti-gay efforts and draw on the support of heterosexual allies.

Steven Fisher, communications director for the Human Rights Campaign, agreed that it's important for LGBT people to reach out to their straight friends and family.

"It's not simply a fight for LGBT Americans," he told the PlanetOut Network. "It's a fight about fairness and equality, and we need to draw more non-LGBT friends into the fight."

Which is why all of your support is greatly appreciated, and why we need you to speak out to yourstraight friends and family to keep the momentum for equality going.

If you'd like to see the report itself, which looks pretty interesting, here it is. (It's a PDF, so be prepared to wait a few seconds.)