RE: LGBT: Should we be raising awareness?
I tend to believe in a "third way" - it's rarely an all or nothing option. Why does one side have to be completely right and the other completely wrong? In my experience as a parent, it is rarely so simple.
Sure, a company won't want to bear all the burden of this, but the more we start talking about the issues as a society, the sooner we will come up with solutions which work for everyone - the peaceful method. (And no, I'm not a liberal - I just look for ways to get along with others better.) As much as people dislike the "third gender" option turning up in places, it is a simple solution to a complex issue. It's not perfect, as there are no perfect solutions to moral dilemmas, but it's a start.
And it is unfair to involve food allergies on this... that's very different and really should be addressed far more seriously as well. I have a soy intolerance myself - one of the top three allergens in the US and still they put it in everything. Okay, it won't kill me, unless I happen to ingest soy before driving, then it could very well kill others along with me... (It causes severe brain fog for three days or so, and extreme fatigue for a week.) I find it frustrating that I can't eat out without asking a million questions (as you must), I can't buy a loaf of bread for less than $5 (yes, I can/do make it), I can't buy a chocolate bar for less than $3... because the other options always have soy. What's really frustrating with the fatigue thing is that there are many, many people who have the same intolerance, and don't even know it. I didn't know until I started reading labels to try to keep my asthmatic son healthy. Soy was one of the first triggers I discovered, no thanks to doctors... But it's okay to have soy in the schools in every meal, but I can't have a peanut butter sandwich because it might manage to get into contact with you somehow... (Yes, I do understand that your allergy is still more dangerous, but when I had my girls off cow's milk for awhile - testing for an allergy - and wouldn't give them soy, but they couldn't have almond milk at school due to other people's potential allergies, it was frustrating.)
Anyway, keep it up, but I hope you're still open to hearing/learning from others. :-)
I am very open to learning from others.
However, what is happening now is that people and companies are afraid to even talk. One mis-speak and you get a flood of hate mail. This is not good. This is actually making it harder to talk about solutions.
The only thing worse than soy allergies is corn. That stuff is filler in everything. Including medicine. I am sorry to hear of your allergies, that sounds like a real pain. (BTW I grind my own flour to make my bread. I find whole grain flour much much better for the body, I did a post on its benefits.)