What Atheists Can Learn from the LGBT Movement :: 2010 Secular Student Alliance Annual Conference

Keynote Speaker Greta Christina discusses what the atheist movement learn from the LGBT movement? The atheist movement is already modeling itself on the LGBT movement in many ways: most obviously with its focus on coming out of the closet. What else can the Atheist movement learn from the LGBT movement both from its successes and its failures? For those who have heard Greta Christina speak at SSA conferences in the past: this is a longer, significantly more fleshed-out version of the talk she gave at both Stanford and Harvard. In this talk, Greta discusses coming out; making atheism a safe place to come out into; defusing the ongoing battles between the firebrands and the diplomats in our movement; avoiding squabbles about language and self-definition; making our movement more diverse; preparing for success and the mainstreaming that will almost certainly accompany it; and other lessons that can be learned from the history of the LGBT movement.