this is our third year (as a school) doing a...

this is our third year (as a school) doing a “t-shirt” demonstration on our campus in support of the LGBT community.
our first year (my freshman year) we had shirts that said:
“Gay Students Welcome Here ♥”

because of our evangelical school’s very conservative and exclusive values, we were unable to even speak of gay students being at our school, same-sex hand holding was banned, and if anyone was caught being in a same-sex relationship, they were to be expelled (or at least suspended).

Within that year, the same-sex hand holding ban was released as well as Gay Expulsion. However, professors and students alike were allowed to publicly shame LGBT students in their classes (theology, biblical studies, psychology, and basically any other class they feel the need to bring up the LGBT condemning committee). The school itself became more divided than ever on this issue. These shirts really shook up the community and it was all nonstop feelings on every side.

My sophomore year, we took the step a little further with shirts that said:

“Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender? You don’t need to be fixed! ♥”

The reason we said that is because people took the previous shirts and said things like “Of course they’re welcome here, ALL God’s broken people are welcome here!”

We were stunned. How could they still twist our message of affirmation and love?

However, all last year (after the t-shirt demonstration day) a lot of the social activist groupies on campus (myself included) set up many private meetings with administrators to plead our case that harassment and “spiritual shame” was running rampant among the student body, and that we needed something to be done.

It took an entire semester, full of blood, sweat and tears, emphasis on the tears, for change to finally take place. But it did! We managed (as a huge ass group of students) to change the actual laws in the handbook to this:

“Students are expected to be respectful of the individual rights and freedoms of others within their community, including faculty, staff, and other students. If a shared sense of understanding does not exist between community members, students are still expected to exhibit an outward sensitivity to the inherent diversity within their community. Conduct that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual based upon an individual’s race, color, gender, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation or any other basis will not be tolerated.” - Student Standards of Conduct 1.3: Mutual Respect

Today, more than 200 students (which is a lot of names to pull out of our address books in a little over a week! Especially on an evangelical, still slightly hostile, community) wore these shirts in support of our school’s handbook change. We still have a long way to go, but at least our school is beginning to back us up on this issue (and others!). Today we celebrate the start of a snow ball, rolling downward and gaining speed.

Today we celebrate diversity, in yet another one of it’s beautiful forms!

01/25/12