ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

When Being UnAshamed to be Yourself Can Benefit Others

Updated on July 8, 2014
(CC0 1.0)
(CC0 1.0) | Source

Pride isn't Such a Bad Thing

In my own life, I am aware of the benefits of living in a country such as New Zealand, that embraces diversity and celebrates it. Where being female doesn't preclude you from the top job (many years before the USA even had Hillary running!), where being a set of gay country singing twins makes you (and your sister) local heroes, where there are three recognised National Languages - two of which MUST be on government signs at all times - Te Reo Maori and English - NZSL is a little harder to put on a physical picture sign!

I'm also acutely aware that not every one is so lucky. Sure, until very recently I couldn't marry my same sex wife - but I can go about my life being an out gay woman and no one blinks an eye.....much. Yet, a little twitchy eye isn't anything to complain about - not everyone understand gay people...I get that. At least, I'm legally able to be myself in public, I'm not threatened with death JUST because someone THINKS I'm gay and the law says "Kill em!". I can be me, and be out with my wife and no one gives two hoots - I'm very very lucky.

Yet, Not All Of Us Can Say The Same

I'm so acutely aware of the fact that anywhere else, I may not have the same benefits, rights or even my life, that I realised that there are plenty of people like me out there, but who think that they are alone - there is no one to care for them, because of the way they were born.

In realising this, I've come to the conclusion that one way I can do something about this from my little corner of the world is ebooks. Weird, I know. But most people have access to some books, or even ebooks. Ebooks make it easier for them to 'hide' the book - given no-one has to see you 'buy' it, and it's there. You can delete it if required, and Heck - Amazon will hold it in your account so you can re-download it if neccesary.

So my current project is to create an ebook for queer women world wide - to know they are not alone, that it does get better, and that people in countries with more benefits and rights are made aware of those countries where there are people just like us, who have no rights to be themselves, who face death or 'corrective rape' just for being gay.

Education is what makes the world change - and if I can educate others about the differences in human rights for people like ourselves, then slowly, maybe we can start changing the world?

Yet, I cannot do this alone. Facebook groups have been a wonderful help, and I have met some incredible people who have been willing to share their stories with me, to assist in getting this book out, and personal. Making it real for those involved. People in my life have been wonderful and supportive of my need, and desire to make this happen. And, now, I'm offering up the chance to you all.

You are proud of who you are? Great - be that you are a queer woman (queer - to cover all those who label themselves, and those who don't), or a friend/family of a queer woman - you are welcomed to share your stories with me. I am happier to send out an email interview if you wish to do that - and you will be credited....so, what do you say? Help out a fellow queer or 2 million?

Let me know!.

My email ( please add something to say it's about the book!...It gets lost otherwise)

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)