Author: Brian Seidman

Concluding our series of responses to a recent Human Rights Campaign survey of LGBT Alabamians, with contributors to NewSouth’s forthcoming anthology Crooked Letter I: Coming Out in the South. From Elizabeth Craven: “Kith and kin, faith and family, loyalty to the land, the culture and the lifestyle marks a Southerner. Yet all the institutions that defines a life: home, work, worship, these are the very places where Southern gay and lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people feel most threatened” …

Continuing our series of responses to a recent Human Rights Campaign survey of LGBT Alabamians, with contributors to NewSouth’s forthcoming anthology Crooked Letter I: Coming Out in the South. From B. Andrew Plant: “Surveys like this are important because they underscore that, no matter how far we have come in terms of LGBTQ acceptance, many people live every day with discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity” …

In 2015, NewSouth plans to release a book of Southern-themed LGBT coming-out stories, titled Crooked Letter I. Contributors to the anthology have sent their thoughts on a recent Human Rights Campaign in Alabama survey of LGBT Alabamians. Today’s thoughts are from Susan Benton: “We have made great progress, but in Alabama, I still have reason to be afraid. I am married to an Australian. When we visit my parents in Alabama, my spouse must always carry her documentation showing she has a right to be in the country. We must have copies of our marriage certificate, and our Medical Power of Attorney in case she must be admitted to a hospital, so that I am considered next-of-kin. Since Alabama does not recognize our marriage, we cannot and will not consider moving to Alabama …”