Date: Fri, 28 Jan 1994 22:50:46 -0800 (PST)
From: Heidi Herman <heidi@gwiz.geophys.washington.edu>
Subject: WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU MEET A QUEER: HINTS FOR HETS

                WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU MEET A QUEER PERSON:
		   	HINTS FOR HETEROSEXUALS


1.	Do not run screaming from the room.  This is rude.

2.	If you must back away, do so slowly and with discretion.

3.	Do not assume she/he is attracted to you.

4.	Do not assume he/she is not attracted to you.

5.	Do not assume that you are not attracted to her/him.

6.	Do not expect him/her to be as excited about meeting a straight
	person as you may be about meeting a queer person.

7.	Do not immediately start talking about your significant other
	in order to make it clear that you are straight.  She/he
	probably already knows.

8.	Do not invite him/her to someplace where there will only be
	straight people unless you tell her/him in advance.  He/she may
	not want to be with them.

9.	Do not ask her/him how he/she got this way.  Instead, ask how
	YOU got THAT way.

10.	Do not assume she/he is dying to talk about being queer.

11.	Do not expect him/her to refrain from talking about being queer.

12.	Do not trivialize her/his experience by assuming it is a bedroom
	experience only; he/she is queer 24 hours a day.

13.	Do not assume because she/he is queer that he/she wants to be
	treated like the opposite sex.  They probably will get angry.

14.	Do not assume her/his heart will leap with joy if you touch
	his/her arm (condescendingly?  flirtatiously?  power-testingly?).
	It may make him/her angry.

15.	Think twice before you attempt to tell her/him that he/she is
	taking the easy way out.

16.	Do not expect a queer woman/man to accept the straight world
	simply because it is the majority.


...something we had floating around our office on campus when I was in
school...if you can't take it with a bunch of grains of salt, don't
bother to take it at all!

Heidi