The Savvy Ally - by Jeannie Gainsburg

About the Book

The Savvy Ally: A Guide for Becoming a Skilled LGBTQ+ Advocate is an enjoyable, humorous, encouraging, easy to understand guidebook for being an ally to the LGBTQ+ communities.

Book Synopsis

The Savvy Ally: A Guide for Becoming a Skilled LGBTQ+ Advocate is an enjoyable, humorous, encouraging, easy to understand guidebook for being an ally to the LGBTQ+ communities.

Review Quotes

"An ideal, practical, effective, and thoroughly 'user friendly' DIY instructional guide and manual, The Savvy Ally: A Guide for Becoming a Skilled LGBTQ+ Advocate is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to family, personal, professional, community, college, and university library LGBTQ collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists."

This is such an amazing book about how someone who is not part of the LGBTQ+ community can be a helpful advocate to those who are. I was surprised to see that a book about LGBTQ+ was written by a cisgender straight woman. (I learned the term cisgender from the book.) . . . I think she did a wonderful job both explaining all the confusing terms as well as explaining how anyone not LGBTQ+ can be an ally or advocate for those who are...I highly recommend this book to everyone.

I love the compassionate sentiment that is weaved through this book that being an ally doesn't mean you have to be perfect, it means being able to acknowledge when a mistake is made and then trying your best to be better. If you truly want to be an ally, The Savvy Ally will lead the way through real life examples, questions that make you go hmm. . . and 'what if' scenarios. Thank you Jeannie Gainsburg for supporting my ally journey!

I was really hesitant to read a book written about the LGBTQ+ community by someone who does not identify as LGBTQ+. I read the first few pages with skepticism, ready to poke holes in the book. And... I have never been so happy to be proven wrong! Jeannie's book is filled with great information for anyone who wants to understand what it means to be an advocate for LGBTQ+ people and how to act as an ally. It's also educational for those within the community - I found myself saying "huh! I didn't know that!" multiple times as I was reading. I loved the book so much that we offered the book as a virtual book club at work during pride month this June. My colleagues had rich and meaningful discussion and we would highly recommend it!

If you have LGBTQ+ friends, family, colleagues, service users, or are simply keen to be more knowledgeable about the subject of gender equity, The Savvy Ally is the best reference guide you are ever likely to read. Jeannie Gainsburg is a skilled and professional ally, as well as a tremendous author.

If you want to support LGBTQ+ people but no one has ever taught you how, this is the book for you. Written in an accessible and entertaining style, The Savvy Ally is filled with useful scenarios, tips, and examples to help you transition from well-intentioned bystander to effective and informed advocate.

Our Active Ally workshops on campus are full of folks who genuinely want to be great allies but lack the information and more importantly the confidence to step proudly into that role. The Savvy Ally is a book I will recommend again and again for its thoughtful approach to gaining knowledge, skill and confidence. It's a much needed tool in our box!

The Savvy Ally is a read for everyone. It is one of the best tutorials I've read that offers key insights into LGBTQ communities while offering practical guidance and action-oriented tips that will help allies become more culturally competent, respectful and impactful in their interactions, both personally and in business.

The Savvy Ally provides a successful foray into the confusing and ever-changing world of being an ally to the LGBTQ+ community. The thoughtful definitions, the various analogies, and the personal examples used to clarify issues are always helpful and often brilliant. Clearly, Gainsburg's many years of "operating in solidarity with" the LGBTQ+ community have provided her with the necessary insight to create such a useful tool. I am grateful for such a perceptive and kindhearted book!

This book is long overdue and I loved reading it! It is a call to action in a positive, optimistic and engaging way - a masterful blend of information, personal stories, humor and serious content. This is much more than just an informative book. It is designed to build skills that can be translated into ongoing, meaningful action. If you want to be an effective LBGTQ+ ally, buy this book. It won't just sit on your shelf. You'll use it every day!

This is a beautiful book. A necessary book. An unputdownable book. Please read this book.

This is it. You found it--the very best guide on how not to make mistakes with LGBTQ+ employees, customers, students, congregants, patients, and family members. If you want to be an effective ally for LGBTQ+ people, buy and read The Savvy Ally. I very enthusiastically endorse this book.

About the Author

Jeannie Gainsburg is an educational trainer and consultant in the field of LGBTQ+ inclusion and effective allyship. Formerly the Education Director at the Out Alliance in Rochester, New York, she has personally facilitated or cofacilitated more than five hundred trainings and workshops in more than twenty different states at corporations, colleges, government agencies, K-12 schools, hospitals, faith communities, and more. She was under the impression that a citation was the result of driving too fast until January of 2019, when she received one from the New York State Assembly for Distinguished Educational & Human Rights Services for her work in promoting LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion. Visit her website and download free ally goodies at: www.savvyallyaction.com.