ABSTRACT
Typically, interest and passion to advocate for a group is derived from lived experiences. I am a white, cisgender woman, heterosexual, married with exactly 2.3 kids (OK, only 2) engineering professor. I have grown into an ally who I'm told has positively impacted and supported numerous individuals and has championed LGBTQ efforts with national and local impact. This chapter goes on the learning, allyship, and advocacy journey of a single individual with stereotyped “normative” labels. The journey includes enlightening reflections, stories of errors or good intentioned—but ineffective—actions progressing through to more optimal strategies that can provide wind beneath the wings of LGBTQIA+ voices. Vignettes also include discussions of navigating settings with majority individuals via subtle or direct conversations so hearts, minds, and behaviors can be shifted and change culture such that all individuals are equitably valued for their true self and contributions.
