From Reggie Edwards, Indiana Statesman, September 28, 2009
Members of a campus LGBT-awareness group will travel to Washington, D.C. next month for the National Equality March, part of a nationwide campaign for gay rights.
Advocates for Equality will be among many hundreds of thousands of other gay rights advocates marching Oct. 10-11 in the nation’s capital.
The student-led organization focuses on LGBT issues.
“Last semester we held a week-long series of events centered around the Day of Silence, which is an action day to bring attention to hate speech that people experience at schools because they are gay, lesbian or transgendered,” said Jordan Toy, a senior communication major and head of the group.
The march in Washington, D.C. has one major goal, which is “full equality for LGBT people in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states,” according to the Web site www.equalityacrossamerica.org.
According to the site, rights that people will be marching for include the “right to work jobs and go to school free of harassment and discrimination, safety in daily lives and protection from hate crimes, equitable healthcare, donating blood, equitable immigration policies, marriage and serving in the military openly.”
Advocates for Equality focuses on outreach education and unifying the LGBT community with its straight allies.
“Our goal is to strengthen the LGBT community at ISU and create an environment at ISU where LGBT students can feel comfortable and a sense of community,” Toy said.
In the spirit of alliance between gay and straight students, two of the group’s founding members were straight.
“I had met Jordan Toy and Colin Hammar my freshman year and they proposed the idea to me and invited me to be a founding member,” said Samantha Writtenhouse, a senior music education major and Advocate for Equality’s financial director. “I had always supported gay rights and I couldn’t think of a better way to show my support to the Terre Haute community and campus community.”
Click to read the rest of the story.
Click to return to the National Equality March main page.
