Information for
Gays & Lesbians
and their supporters

I am one of the few members of the Canisius College faculty who has publicly declared that they are Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual. I have done so in both the Buffalo News (April 1993) after the March on Washington, and in the Griffin (Fall 1994) the student newspaper at Canisius College. There are other Gay & Lesbian faculty who do not hide this fact, but who have not made any public statements. There are still other who choose to keep secret about being Lesbian or Gay. I see these as facts, and it should not be interpreted that I see any of these positions as better or worse than any other. People have many reasons for making choices about their personal life and as long as their public actions are not hypocritical I have no problem with their personal choices. I am only upset when someone who is Gay or Lesbian takes actions and makes statements that are hurtful to Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered (GLBT) people.

I have chosen to be fully out because I feel that when the general public gets to see and know the GLBT Community we will increase the support for GLBT Civil Rights. Yet, even with the important role that I think being out can play, I support the decisions of all other people who choose to keep private about their sexual orientation.

One thing that I have found interesting is the perception that straight people get from what I do. I have had a number of people express the belief that I always talk about being gay and that I always talk about my life-partner, Fred. In reality, this says more about how much people talk about their own personal lives without realizing it, since I talk about my life only when others around me are talking about theirs.

The following is a list of resources for GLBT people and their supporters.  This list is far from complete.  Many on-line directories and search engines have excellent listings of resources.  Many of the web sites below also have link lists.

Organizations  

There are a number of national organizations that are supportive of GLBT people, and are working for the extension of basic rights to all of us. Many of these have lists of links to other resources for GLBT people.

• PFLAG Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
• PFLAG Buffalo/Niagara Chapter of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
• Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network
• Human Rights Campaign whose site will let you send a message to your representative in congress.
• National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
• OutProud The National Coalition for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youth
• GLAAD Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is a group that monitors media reports and portrayals of Gay men and Lesbians.

Informational Pages  

The following are informational pages on areas and people of interest to Gay men and Lesbian women.

• The Queer Resources Directory
• resource list for Gay and Lesbian people maintained by And Justice for All.
• Alan Turing Home Page maintained by Turing biographer Alan Hodges this has information and photographs of Gay Mathematician/Computer Scientist Alan Turing
• Alan Turing 2 Another Alan Turing home page
• Lesbian.org Lesbian Resources and information

Publications (electronic and traditional)  

The following pages are for traditional magazines available at news stands and also more modern electronic publications.

• The Advocate
• Out and About a newsletter for Gay and Lesbian travelers
• PlanetOut

• in the life - Gay and Lesbian News magazine on PBS.

The above are my own personal opinions, and are not meant to indicate agreement or disagreement by Canisius College, the Computer Science Department, or any faculty, staff, or administrators at that institution.

Jeffrey J. McConnell's home page

Canisius College Computer Science Department Home Page

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