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"A Straight Guide to GLBT Americans" is a 21-page pamphlet aimed at sorting through the typical emotions and questions that arise when a friend or loved one comes out about being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

The brochure is the first that the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's leading gay civil-rights group, has written specifically for straight people, said Mark Shields, the director of the organization's Coming Out Project.

"As a society, we're in a different place culturally than we were even 10 years ago on gay issues. People have seen Will & Grace, and they're comfortable with Ellen (DeGeneres). We're seeing that face more and more," Shields said. "But there's still a real lack of knowledge on very basic things about who gay people are, and that's what this guide is trying to address."