Approximately 10 years ago this week, the Chimes ran a picture of two male students kissing on the front page. In 2005, the article angered many people and stirred controversy all across campus. Fast forward to 2015. Beliefs, culture, and rights within the LGBT community have drastically changed, especially with the legalization of same-sex marriage this past summer.
In regards to the progress the LGBT community has made, Ciarra Davis, president of Pride, said, “The fact that we are raising money for a scholarship for LGBT students when the Chimes couldn’t even show a picture of two gay men speaks volumes of how far society has come. It has come from something that is shunned to something that is celebrated.”
Christopher Hetzer, one of the men featured in the picture, said he couldn’t believe the picture survived this long.
“When the Chimes ran the picture, the back lash was disappointing but not surprising to me,” Hetzer said. “With the bold support of the Chimes, the Pride group at Capital University was able to educate people regarding the surrounding issues of the LGBTQA community. We certainly have come a long way in 10 years! I will say that even though the LGBTQA community had a monumental milestone on 6/26/15, thanks to all those who continuously fought for equal rights, there is still a lot of work in areas regarding bullying, employment, and other legislation. It is amazing to see there is still a strong and positive presence on campus.”
The other man pictured, Joshua Adkins, was unavailable for comment.
Davis commends Capital for being open and willing to introduce new ways of being supportive to the LGBT community.
“[Capital] makes strides every semester,” Davis said. “We have gender inclusive housing. That’s ground breaking, not only for Capital or schools our size, but for schools all across the country.”
The 27th National Coming Out Day will be Sunday Oct. 11. Pride is having their event on Friday, Oct. 9 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. under the Schaaf breezeway. The organization will once again have a door that students can “come out” of along with a bake sale and a glitter bucket challenge.
The glitter bucket challenge is a fundraiser that involves raising money to a certain cap. Once the cap is reached, the purchaser can dump a bucket of glitter on a designated faculty member or executive board member of Pride.
Pride is working to raise $25,000 for its LGBT focused scholarship by 2018. Around $5,000 has already been raised within the past year.
