Come Out and Win: Organizing Yourself, Your Community, and Your World (Queer Action)
 

Part of the Queer Action series, edited by Michael Bronski

Come Out and Win will educate, engage, and agitate LGBT and straight activists to become involved in the political movement to win full equality under the law and sexual/gender freedom. Spurring a new generation of activists to positive social action, it not only tells the history of gay liberation but, crucially, offers guidance and practical advice for building organizations and taking concrete action to eradicate homophobia.

From starting a gay-straight alliance in your high school to the most effective way to lobby your state representative face-to-face, Come Out and Win explains how to organize and become politically engaged in a clear and user-friendly manner. Other issues explored include youth organizing, marriage equality, legislative change, public relations, having a voice in the mainstream press, putting on a street demonstration, and political organizing from local to national levels. Grappling with the complexity of grassroots political interactions, Come Out and Win suggests ways for LGBT communities to form coalitions with women’s organizations, communities of color, and faith communities.

“Sue Hyde’s book answers the plaint, ‘What are we gonna do?’ So quit whining, get her book, pick a chapter, do the workbook. Repeat. Create change. Badges not included.” —Kate Clinton, humorist and author of What the L?

“Sue Hyde has demonstrated in her own life that winning equal rights for LGBT people is not a spectator sport. Now she has taken this one step further and provided a guide for other LGBT people so that they can join her in this effort.” —Congressman Barney Frank

“Unique and invaluable, this is the essential guide for anyone wanting to advance equal rights for LGBT people.” —Matt Foreman, Executive Director National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

"An invitation to change the world can't be taken lightly, unless it's delivered with the sure and light touch of an engaging, dedicated organizer like Sue Hyde. Turn the pages and be the new world." —Jewelle Gomez, author and activist

“Hyde presents activism as an organized method for gaining self-acceptance as well as societal and political change . . . This book fills a niche that heretofore has lacked a sophisticated yet accessible treatment of the topic . . . This book has staying power for the reader and as a library collection staple.” —Voice of Youth Advocates

A longtime LGBT activist and organizer, Sue Hyde has worked with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) for over twenty years. As director of NGLTF’s Creating Change conference, Hyde has trained thousands of queer activists. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her wife and two children.