I'M not welcome at YOUR party?!

Let’s say you’re a group of people (a demographic, if you will) that have a history of being repressed and are looking for acceptance into the general public as equals. You decide to rent out some space at a popular bar and have a little celebration where people in your demographic can get together and support each other. With the support of your employer, you then hang up posters for the event on the bulletin boards around work to share the event with others. What’s something you probably shouldn’t do if you want other people/groups/demographics to accept you as equals? State that only members of your demographic are welcome to attend. So much for equality and acceptance.
That’s exactly what the LGBT group here at work has done. On multiple occasions, no less. Every time they have a meeting, party, gathering, etc, they state in no uncertain terms that only other LGBT people are welcome to attend. Straight folks? Sorry, you’re not one of them and can’t join in their reindeer games. But wait, if any other group organized a party and told the LGBT crowd that they weren’t invited there would be protests and lawsuits.
{picks up dictionary}


hyp•o•crite noun \ˈhi-pə-ˌkrit\: a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.


When they had their pride event here at work, in a conference room in the building, and stated that only LGBT people could attend, I was annoyed but was somewhat understanding. Maybe some of them didn’t want their straight coworkers knowing they were gay and it was the only way for them to make that first step. Even with that in mind, it’s still not really kosher to have an exclusive event for a group that’s asking for inclusion. The Asian pride event wasn’t exclusive. African American event? All were welcome. Every other pride event was open except for the LGBT event. (Insert closet jokes here)
And when you think about it, what other demographic can really have their own event at a local bar without it causing some problems? I haven’t seen the Chinese people here organizing a night out for their families. Black night at Tommy Doyle's? Guess what would happen if I put up posters for a straight white guy night at CBC? I can pretty much bet that HR would be giving me a call within minutes of staples hitting cork. And I’m sure the more vocal members of the LGBT group would have some choice words for me. Even though that would be well within my rights and exactly the same thing they did. It’s unfair, I tell ya.
I fully support repressed groups moving to organize and fight for their rights to be considered equal. But part of being an equal is letting everyone else play in your sandbox. It’s a tough step to take, going from your tightly-knit community with your personal identity to just being anonymous people among the masses, but that’s what you have to be if you want to be equal. If you don’t want me to act like it’s a big deal that you’re gay, then you have to act like it’s no big deal.
And to me, it isn’t a big deal. Do I necessarily want to see gay guys making out at a bar? Not really, but I also don’t want to see a lot of straight people making out either. Not ideal, but you need to be happy with what you get from me sometimes.
PEACE!! (and inclusion for all races, creeds, colors, and preferences)