Setting Them Straight: You CAN Do Something About Bigotry and Homophobia in Your Life

by Betty Berzon

Book Overview

From singer Melissa Etheridge to Olympic champion Greg Louganis, from tennis great Martina Navratilova to the British actor Sir Ian McKellan, celebrities and notables have come forward to put a new face on gay and lesbian sexuality. At the same time, the religious right campaigns to legalize discrimination against gay people and promote an anti-gay prejudice in the general public. The result: cultural attitudes on this topic have never been so polarized--or...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0452274214
• ISBN13: 9780452274211
• Release Date: June 1996
• Publisher: Penguin Adult Hc/Tr
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

How to be proud and how to stand up for yourself

Great book for people struggling with being gay and that have to deal with bigots.The book teaches you why people hate, anger management,true morality vs. christian morality,different ways to respond to anti-gay comments, points to bring up when you're dealing with homophobic family,friends, co-workers and strangers,dispelling gay myths and more. Excellent book.

Let's Give It Up for the Self-Esteem Diva!

Dr. Betty Berzon wrote a great book. Her passion and her sincerity have literally helped change lives. She was a psychotherapist who specialized in self-help for GLBT folk. It is a shame that she had to pass in 2006 at 78, as it was amazing to read and watch her work. In this particular book of hers, she arms her readers with the ammunition to take homophobia head-on. First, she builds the reader's confidence in themselves and tries to get one to confront their own internalized homophobia. This is perhaps one of the most effective parts of the book. From there, like a good psychotherapist, she proceeds to take us into the minds of the most common types of homophobes that we encounter in our daily lives. She deconstructs their motivations and desires and lets us know what they are really trying to say. We encounter everyone from the hateful Neo-Nazi to that adorable Aunt who loves you so much that she wants to save your soul from Hell. Finally, she arms her readers with examples of what to say and how to say it. Some of her answers sound quite witty and are enough to silence even the professional homophobe. Though the rhetoric is indeed changing a bit, and new things will have to be invented to coincide with how vile and creative radical anti-gay groups like the American Family Association and Family Research Council are getting, I believe the fact that Berzon guides her reader down a path of self-confidence and in dealing with such people, proves more important than the timeliness of her suggested responses. Though Berzon's book is not perfect and a little bit dated, I believe that it's a fabulous start and gets right to the nitty gritty, unlike some other GLBT-themed books which waste their their writing and re-writing fluff on the almost beat-to-death topics of coming-of-age and coming-out. Whenever I'm feeling discouraged or depressed as a result of people giving me grief over being gay, I turn to Betty's book. She's a angel and her words serve to inspire so many. Even in death, she remains alive!

Gay Empowerment At Its Finest

I just finished reading this wonderful book by Dr. Berzon and I must say that it's gay empowerment at its finest! I recommend this book to anyone and everyone who is gay or knows someone who is gay but I recommend it even more to those who are unfamiliar with who and what gay really is. I'm now ordering a copy to be sent to my Christian mother. I wished all of our lawmakers would read this enlightend masterpiece!

An excellent book to have around

While I was in the USA 2 years ago I purchased this book and found it to be really good. Dr. Berzon gives some good tips on how to deal with the different people one is likely to come up against regarding homosexuality. Of course not every situation will be like those described, nevertheless its suggestions can help you to formulate your own responses. I would have preferred to see a few more methods in dealing with religious fanatics since we have plenty of zealots here in this country too. There was one section in dealing with a homophobic co-worker which was quite good but yet not everyone has a boss that looks the other way. What can one do if both your co-workers and boss are bigots? This is difficult indeed. Fortunately Israel is somewhat more liberal than the US in that we have laws which protect one's rights in the workplace, as well as the home and during compulsory military service. Sadly not eveywhere in the world are gays protected by law. There is no question that I would recommend this book to anyone who has to come up against bigotry against Gays and Lesbians. I also recommend the Eric Marcus book, "Is It a Choice". Both are well worth the purchase price.