Painful stories of “coming out” and calls for equal rights and respect were featured Monday afternoon at Crimson Village during a rally kicking off Pride Week activities planned by the Pittsburg State University Gay-Straight Alliance.
Theme for the week is “Gorilla Pride: Unity in the Community.”
Laren Curry, Winfield, Gay-Straight Alliance, told of his family’s reaction when he tried to tell them his sexual orientation. “I tried to tell my mother I was bisexual when I was in the eighth grade, and almost got choked in the car on the way home from school,” he said.
Another attempt, when he was in high school, also didn’t go so well. “My mother was holding a Bible and pointing out the scriptures that said I was an abomination,” Curry said. “Then she hit me upside the head with the Bible.”
He added that he is still speaking to his mother and trying to open her mind.
Several speakers came from Joplin, including Dr. Hillary Fogarty, advisor for the Missouri Southern State University Equality Alliance, who said that she was excited people from PSU had come to the MSSU campus and shown support for the Joplin group.
David Betts, an MSSU student from Kansas City, Kan., read a poem, “Closet Boy,” that he had written for an event in Joplin. In it he says that “to lose one’s identity is to lose oneself.”
“I used some experiences from my own history, and the poem started to take on a form of its own,” he said after his reading. “When I did it at MSSU, there were some people who started crying.”
Also speaking was Brother Steve Urie from the Spirit of Christ Metropolitan Christian Church.
“I want you to understand there are footprints that have gone before you, people who have fought for your rights,” Urie said. “There are people looking to you to be our future, to take a stand and not give up. What we need are for people to learn about us as people.”
He added that there are churches that are safe and accepting of gay and bisexual people, including Spirit of Christ in Joplin.
“Our church is open to everyone, and we don’t put anyone down,” Urie said.
After the rally, Curry said he felt things had gone well. “I think that, for the first one, it was pretty good,” he said.
Andrew Boyd, Gay-Straight Alliance vice president, who is straight, stressed the unity aspect of the observance. “We want to show that it’s not just us, that we all love each other as students,” he said.
Urie, 60, said he was impressed with both the students at MSSU and PSU. “They have both conducted themselves with great dignity,” he said. “I protested in the 1960s, when we made a lot of noise, and it just saddens me that in this day and age we’re still fighting this battle.”
Sponsors for the week’s events include the Campus Activities Office, Office of Student Diversity, Gorillas in Your Midst, International Programs and Services Office and the Office of Campus Life and Auxiliary Services.
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Painful stories of “coming out” and calls for equal rights and respect were featured Monday afternoon at Crimson Village during a rally kicking off Pride Week activities planned by the Pittsburg State University Gay-Straight Alliance.
Theme for the week is “Gorilla Pride: Unity in the Community.”
Laren Curry, Winfield, Gay-Straight Alliance, told of his family’s reaction when he tried to tell them his sexual orientation. “I tried to tell my mother I was bisexual when I was in the eighth grade, and almost got choked in the car on the way home from school,” he said.
Another attempt, when he was in high school, also didn’t go so well. “My mother was holding a Bible and pointing out the scriptures that said I was an abomination,” Curry said. “Then she hit me upside the head with the Bible.”
He added that he is still speaking to his mother and trying to open her mind.
Several speakers came from Joplin, including Dr. Hillary Fogarty, advisor for the Missouri Southern State University Equality Alliance, who said that she was excited people from PSU had come to the MSSU campus and shown support for the Joplin group.
David Betts, an MSSU student from Kansas City, Kan., read a poem, “Closet Boy,” that he had written for an event in Joplin. In it he says that “to lose one’s identity is to lose oneself.”
“I used some experiences from my own history, and the poem started to take on a form of its own,” he said after his reading. “When I did it at MSSU, there were some people who started crying.”
Also speaking was Brother Steve Urie from the Spirit of Christ Metropolitan Christian Church.
“I want you to understand there are footprints that have gone before you, people who have fought for your rights,” Urie said. “There are people looking to you to be our future, to take a stand and not give up. What we need are for people to learn about us as people.”
He added that there are churches that are safe and accepting of gay and bisexual people, including Spirit of Christ in Joplin.
“Our church is open to everyone, and we don’t put anyone down,” Urie said.
After the rally, Curry said he felt things had gone well. “I think that, for the first one, it was pretty good,” he said.
Andrew Boyd, Gay-Straight Alliance vice president, who is straight, stressed the unity aspect of the observance. “We want to show that it’s not just us, that we all love each other as students,” he said.
Urie, 60, said he was impressed with both the students at MSSU and PSU. “They have both conducted themselves with great dignity,” he said. “I protested in the 1960s, when we made a lot of noise, and it just saddens me that in this day and age we’re still fighting this battle.”
Sponsors for the week’s events include the Campus Activities Office, Office of Student Diversity, Gorillas in Your Midst, International Programs and Services Office and the Office of Campus Life and Auxiliary Services.
