stand up and be counted

To have the courage or conviction to show public support for something. If you want congress to overturn this unconstitutional law, then show up to the rally, and stand up and be counted! Plenty of people voice their opinion from the safe anonymity of the Internet, but very few will stand up and be counted when it matters.

to state one's support (for someone or something). If you believe in more government help for farmers, write your representative—stand up and be counted. I'm generally in favor of what you propose, but not enough to stand up and be counted.

Reveal one's convictions or opinions, especially when it requires courage to do so. For example, Stop muttering your complaints about the music; stand up and be counted if you want something changed . The counted in this expression alludes to having one's vote on a matter acknowledged. [c. 1900]

COMMON If you are willing to stand up and be counted, you are willing to state publicly your belief, especially when this could cause trouble for you. We are here, demonstrating, because we want to stand up and be counted. Will we, as members of the Senate and the House, have the guts to stand up and be counted on this issue?

Show your true opinion, even if it takes courage to do so. This Americanism, which presumably refers to counting votes, dates from the turn of the twentieth century and has been used with reference to showing where one’s political sympathies lie, even if one’s view is very unpopular. From the mid-twentieth century on, however, it has been used more broadly for revealing any kind of conviction. Michael Innes used it in Appleby’s Answer (1973): “A mild-mannered man. But he felt he must stand up and be counted.”