Why LGBTQ Scholarships Are Crucial: One Gay Man's Personal Story

I was starting to drift to sleep at my friend's house when the call came. My phone vibrated, and I assumed it was my mom wishing me goodnight. Instead, a number with a Los Angeles area code shined on the screen. I answered. Three minutes later, I hung up the phone and was in tears. I had just received news that I was the recipient of a Point Foundation scholarship -- a scholarship created specifically for LGBTQ students.

I had applied for the scholarship in my senior year in high school after learning about Point Foundation in an ethics class where my peers debated whether an LGBTQ scholarship was necessary. As a young gay man in conservative southern Indiana, I had lots of reasons to argue that it was indeed very necessary.

Growing up, I constantly heard negative attitudes about LGBTQ people and I never had the opportunity to meet any LGBTQ role models. Between the time I realized I was gay and the time I finally came out, I struggled with my identity. I dated girls, I participated in homophobic bullying, and I debated how I could change myself to be "normal."

With the encouragement of my friends and my mom, I came out my junior year of high school. It was a bittersweet decision. Men my mother dated would ridicule me and harass my boyfriends. Colleagues in a student business organization disrespected me and talked behind my back even though when I was "straight" we were best friends. Family members pretended to accept me, but then failed to acknowledge and support me in front of others.

I dreamed of going to college in New York City where I would not be hindered intellectually or personally, but rather could express myself freely. I not only wanted to live my life openly, but to develop my skills as an activist filmmaker so I could give voice to other LGBTQ people. However, with my mom's very low income the idea of affording college in New York seemed an impossible dream.

Still, I decided to apply for the Point Scholarship. I made it past the first round, then the next, and advanced to become a finalist. Point flew me to San Francisco for the last hurdle; an in-person interview. Standing in front of Point board members and staff, I told my story. I explained that while I had been accepted to NYU, I couldn't afford it. I discussed how I helped my struggling mother by working six days a week after school to pay for our basic needs. I told them I would have to attend Indiana University instead for business since they didn't have a film program, but that I really didn't want to go to college and struggle with the same narrow-minded environment I experienced growing up. I poured my heart out and left the room in tears. 

Frat Boy Dishes On What It’s Like To Be Gay And Greek

“People assume that gay individuals would be completely disinterested in the prospect of joining a fraternity,” Kohlman Harshbarger (pictured) writes in a new op-ed published by The Odyssey. “This isn’t exactly a warped perspective, but it certainly isn’t one of crystalline clarity either.”

Harshbarger is a Marketing and Graphic design major at the University of Minnesota. He is also the current social chair for his fraternity.

He acknowledges the “hyper-masculine, weight-lifting, polo-wearing, country music-listening” reputations that many frat houses and their occupants have.

“They like their beer and their women equally. Both a lot,” he says. “Nowhere in this list do you find Beyoncé or skinny jeans.”

But, he says, there still plenty of gay guys amidst all the rampant heterosexuality.

“[Gay people] join fraternities for the same reason that straight people do,” Harshbarger writes. “For me, an out-of-state student (1,406 miles out of state to be exact), my fraternity is like my family away from home. It’s a support system of 107 best friends that are just as ready to shotgun a brew with me at 8 a.m. on gameday as they are to sit and listen to me lament about how shitty my day was. Surprisingly, brotherhood isn’t contingent upon sexual orientation!”

Maybe not in Harshbarger’s case. But there have been plenty of stories about fraternities rejecting pledges for being gay.

In October, the Lambda Phi Epsilon fraternity at the University of Texas was suspended after being accused of withholding membership from a rushee simply because he was gay. And last year, the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland was put on probationfor rejecting an applicant on the basis of his sexual orientation.

College Students Can’t Answer Basic U.S. Questions, But Get Celebrity Ones Right

Homophobic Preacher Drowned Out By College Students' Song Of Love & Tolerance

​A homophobic preacher spreading hate "in the name of God" on the James Madison University campus in Virginia got more than he bargained for when faced with a group of students that fought back with a pretty powerful weapon: love. 

According to social media reports the preacher began his "sermon" by telling a gay couple holding hands on campus that they were going to hell.

Thankfully, that message was drowned out by the students who gathered around to spread their own message of love and tolerance via a Christian song by John Mark McMillon called "How He Loves." 

Led by a guitarist, it's pretty comical--and powerful--to see this preacher's hate so resoundingly drowned out by college students that want to share love. 

When the song concludes, the teacher tells the students that they are headed "straight to hell."

Their response--meant for everyone listening? "Jesus loves you all!"

Nice job, guys!

College Magazine – 10 Colleges With The Hottest Guys

We aren’t really sure the criteria by which College Magazine scaled the “hotness” factor of the guys or even what their type is, but considering that University of GA is their top pick and we have had our share of boyfriends, friends, and crushes that have attended UGA, we assume that their type is similar to ours and in that case we agree, the boys at UGA are HOT!!! Maybe it is because of the fun scene or just the number of guys on campus, but we could spend our time just wondering around campus and downtown Athens without ever getting bored (or doing anything aside from just looking at guys). Maybe it is because of the hot girls (of which there are plenty of those as well)? Either way, we approve of the choice although we must admit that is is the only school on the list that we have actual “experience” with.

We also found a funny video of the UGA men’s swim and dive team doing the Harlem Shake – it’s good to see that hot guys can have some fun:) (See Below)

Student Comes Out As Gay To Class & Friends w/ Spoken Word Poetry

We love stuff like this! Steven James Boyle, a poetry student, came out as gay to his class and other friends and strangers in an awesomely bold moment of spoken word bravery!

He writes on The Gaily Grind:

While I’ve never been afraid of public speaking, the thought of telling a room full of people my innermost thoughts, scared the ever living shit out of me.

In attendance was my poetry class who I had grown to love dearly, but had never alluded to that I was gay. I changed every pronoun before that night, and stayed away from the fact that my muse at the time was a boy who had broken my heart. Also in the audience was everyone who came out to see their friends do poetry, strangers I had never met, and a small group of my own friends who had no idea what I was going to read since I rarely, if ever, shared my writing.

This was my first time ever reading my newest poem at the time, “i hit send, or modern meltdown.”

Check out "I Hit Send, or Modern Meltdown":

Love! Steven calls this "one of the most memorable nights of my life."
Love!

Steven calls this "one of the most memorable nights of my life."

Being Gay In College

Controversial lgbt play a huge hit at the College of Charleston

The controversy at the College of Charleston involving lgbt issues has been a back and forth between the legislators and college. Last night however,  students finally spoke out about the situation in their own way:

From the Charleston Post & Courier: 

"Fun Home" author Alison Bechdel said she owes a debt to the generations of gay people who came before her, including her closeted, gay father who killed himself.

And she was proud to be part of bringing to Charleston the off-Broadway show based on her book, despite threats from South Carolina lawmakers that they could continue to slash the College of Charleston's budget.

Bechdel and the original cast of the New York show volunteered to present two performances in concert format at the 750-seat Memminger Auditorium Monday. The 7 p.m. show sold out and most seats for the 9 p.m. show also were filled.

Also, earlier that day students also attended a rally in support of "academic freedom" where they called into question the decision by SC lawmakers to take away $52,000 of its budget simply because Fun Home  was offered to students to read. Other SC lgbt organizations and leaders have also weighed in on the controversy:

Warren Redman-Gress, executive director of the Alliance for Full Acceptance, said that in addition to students, the performances were important to Charleston residents, including members of its gay community. The General Assembly "is still trying to bully those with certain views," he said. The graphic novel "Fun Home" was the selected title for the College Reads! program and made available to all incoming freshman in the fall of 2013.

In the book, which Bechdel has written and drawn in comic-strip form, she describes her childhood with a closeted gay father, who was an English teacher and owner of a funeral home; the trial he faced over his dealings with young boys; his suicide; and her own coming out as a lesbian.

In February, some lawmakers took issue with the book, and the S.C. House budget-writing committee moved to withdraw $52,000 of school funding, the cost of the summer reading program.

The fact that last night's performances was a hit amongst students does call into question the claim by lawmakers that there were complaints about its reading assignment. 

However, if students are truly worried about this situation and how it may affect "academic freedom," the attendance last night was a good first step.  An appropriate last step should be an en masse rally at the State House while lawmakers are deliberating over the issue.

PLEDGE SAYS UCF FRATERNITY REJECTED HIM AFTER DISCOVERING HE'S GAY

A University of Central Student says that the Beta Theta Phi fraternity rejected him after discovering that he is gay, Knight News reports:

In a YouTube video posted last Thursday, sophomore George Dumont claims he was “balled,” or removed, from Beta Theta Pi’s Fall 2013 pledge process five days before initiation because of his sexual orientation. Dumont would later go on to file a report with the UCF Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life detailing the allegations.

In the video, Dumont claims to “have done some digging” and provides a screenshot of a text conversation in what he says is between himself and a brother of Beta Theta Pi.

He asks: “Was there a reason why?”

“They were ‘uncomfortable’ with things that were said. Aka they are homophobic. It’s disgusting and caused a late night meeting with me almost pulling my own pin,” the text reads.

Fraternities and Sororities Take a Stand Against Homophobia

Think fraternities and sororities are hotbeds of hate? This group is working to change that perception.

Get REAL’s mission as a non-profit is to empower university and college students across the country to speak to high school and middle school students about unlearning homophobia and embracing everyone, regardless of difference. We began as a campus organization at Western University (Canada) in 2011, and have since grown to teams at Guelph, Queens, Mount Allison, and Acadia, and we will be at 10 universities/colleges BC all the way out to Halifax in the fall. We have spoken to thousands of students across Ontario and the East Coast.

The videos we produce are a means to that end – we use them to reach new supporters, to garner new school invites, and – most importantly – we use them as learning tools when we run our presentations. Our videos have been used in teachers colleges as far away as Australia, and featured on CTV, Global and Much Music.

That is our primary focus because we believe that in casual, honest personal stories, told by a team of young students both LGBT and straight, is the most effective method when it comes to unlearning homophobia language and attitudes. Get REAL is students teaching students about homophobia and being themselves, and it means a lot to me. I attended an all-guys’ school in grades 7 and 8. I was insecure, ignorant to different types of people – I myself am straight – and had a good sense of humor. This was a bad 

combination for the people around me, who I would tease to no end. As I grew, matured, and had friends and people I respected come out to me, I began to regret my language and my attitude towards others. But I there is no control z button on life.

Our favorite challenge for our video content is to pick people that the general public might dismiss as close-minded and empower then bringing them into the conversation in a positive way. And not with a scripted video, but with their own words, and their own stories (much like one of our high school presentations). We believe that is how a movement grows: breaking down stereotypes and dispelling prejudice bit by bit until a small group of activists translates into a mass movement of the norm. And this in turn requires brave individuals to take the first steps, which is exactly what these fraternity and sorority brothers and sisters did with our project.

For all of us, Get REAL is a means to share these kinds of positive insights with students who remind us of ourselves, helping them avoid mistakes and to provide hope. Whether it is telling a coming out story that provides the kind of hope the speaker couldn’t have foreseen at age 16, or a story of unlearning the kind of meanness and fear of the unknown that I had at 13, Get REAL is our way of helping the younger generation help themselves. And they’re usually miles ahead of where we were, we find. Get REAL would have meant a lot to me back then – it would have blown my small mind, actually. And that is why it means so much to me right now.

We hope that fraternities, sororities, high schools and middle schools across North America join the movement – as many have already – and help us show youth everywhere that the message ‘Love is Love’ can be lived and embodied by truly anybody.

Learn more at:
Web: www.thegetrealmovement.com
Facebook: facebook.com/wegetreal
Instagram & Twitter: @getrealmovement

UVA Students Respond to Anti-Gay Protest by Singing

A small group speaking out against gay rights caused quite a stir at the University of Virginia Wednesday.

The protest created a large and unique response from students. At first, dozens of students silently watched the group protest gay rights. Then a few students spoke up, causing quite a chain reaction.

As you can see on the video above – sent in by UVA student Emily Handy – the group's protesting prompted dozens of students to join hands and belt out the university's de facto alma mater, drowning out the protester's message.

"It was something that was so ignorant and something that was so hateful towards a group of people and it was responded to in a really positive and beautiful way,” Handy said.

The protest even caught the attention of UVA's dean of students, Allen Groves. He took to his Twitter, saying, "I'm headed to the amphitheater now to see this circus in person. I'm sorry to my students that you are having to listen to this."

The video was posted just Wednesday afternoon and news of it has quickly spread. By Wednesday night it had thousands of views.

Missouri College Refuses to Re-enroll Student Who Came Out as Gay Since He 'Misused God's Gift'

Chase Martinson was halfway through his studies at Hannibal-LaGrange University when health issues forced him to take a break. When he reapplied the school said it wouldn't accept him.

Why? Because during the time he was on a break, he came out as a gay man.

The Riverfront Times reports:

Martinson reapplied to Hannibal-LaGrange, a small school about 120 miles north of St. Louis, a few months ago, quickly getting an acceptance letter and even a note saying he was eligible for the honors program. Everything was on track -- until the next letter came, putting his application on hold:

"Admittance is open to academically and morally qualified students," the school wrote Martinson on March 4. "Admission is open to students who are in agreement with the HLGU Student Life Guidelines."

The school directed Martinson to pages 20and 27 of the student-life guidelines, where the school's sexual impropriety rules are spelled out. Both pages explicitly forbid "homosexual activities." Page 27 even prohibits appearing to be gay.

"I just wanted to be me, and I never had any idea this would happen," Martinson tells Daily RFT. "I thought I was already in, but then they send me this letter saying, 'Just kidding.'"

The school's policy suggests that Martinson 'misused God's gift:

"It is God's intent that heterosexual union is the only acceptable expression of sexuality and must be reserved for marriage," says the school's standard of sexual conduct. "This expression of a self-giving love is viewed as a gift from God. All members of the University community should abstain from behavior which may lead to a violation of God's standards on sexual activities.

The school lists homosexuality -- along with sexual abuse, sexual harassment, incest and sexual assault -- as "misuses of God's gift."

Martinson is enrolling at University of Missouri - St. Louis.

High school senior suing parents for college tuition

Rachel Canning, a cheerleader and lacrosse player at Morris Catholic High School who has aspirations to be a biomedical engineer, filed a lawsuit last week in the Family Part of state Superior Court in Morristown that seeks a judge's declaration that she is non-emancipated and dependent as a student on her parents for support.

An honor student and athlete who claims her parents threw her out of their home when she turned 18 has taken the highly unusual step of suing them for immediate financial support and to force them to pay for her college education.

Judge Peter Bogaard, sitting in Morristown, has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday. Rachel Canning's lawyer, Tanya N. Helfand, will ask that parents Sean and Elizabeth Canning, who haven't paid an outstanding $5,306 Morris Catholic tuition bill, be ordered to settle that debt, pay Rachel's current living and transportation expenses, and commit an existing college fund to their daughter, who has received acceptance letters from several universities and has to make a decision this spring.

Since the alleged "abandonment" by her parents, Rachel has been living in Rockaway Township with the family of her best friend and fellow student Jaime Inglesino, whose father is attorney and former Morris County Freeholder John Inglesino. Inglesino is funding the lawsuit and hired attorney Helfand, who included in the lawsuit a request that the parents pay their daughter's legal fees that so far total $12,597.

Sean Canning, a retired Lincoln Park police chief who currently works as Mount Olive's township administrator, said his daughter's representation of the facts is not accurate and he fears she is being "enabled" by well-intentioned but ill-informed people who include the Inglesinos. Sean Canning said that Rachel voluntarily left home in October and was never thrown out.

"We love our child and miss her. This is terrible. It's killing me and my wife. We have a child we want home. We're not Draconian and now we're getting hauled into court. She's demanding that we pay her bills but she doesn't want to live at home and she's saying, 'I don't want to live under your rules,'" Sean Canning said.

Covenant College Censors Gay Rights Work from Former Student's Alumni Update

Kathryn Brightbill, an alumna of Covenant College, a Christian liberal arts college in Georgia, recently sent in an update to the school's alumni newspaper because she was proud of some of the recent professional work she had accomplished, assisting on research for an amicus brief in the Prop. 8 and DOMA cases.

 

Writes Brightbill: 

And so, I filled out the alumni update form to say that I’m a student at UF Law and was asked to work on the Family Equality Council, et al. brief in Perry and Windsor, and that as part of that I coauthored the LGBTQ Youth and Young Adult Survey as a joint project between the University of Florida Center on Children and Families and the Emory Child Rights Project. All very professional and academic. There was no intent to make a political statement. It wasn’t a protest against Covenant or the PCA’s position on homosexuality in general or marriage equality in particular. It was just a nice, generic alumni update about what I’ve been up to recently.

So what did the school publish?

Kathryn Brightbill '03 is currently studying law at the University of Florida Law School.

Adds Brightbill:

Brendon Ayanbadejo Pens Open Letter to Ole Miss on LGBT Inclusivity Following Heckling Incident

In an open letter posted on Fox Sports today, Brendon Ayanbadejo offered to help the University of Mississippi's educational outreach on LGBT inclusivity following reports earlier this week of a mass heckling of a student production of 'The Laramie Project,' the Moises Kaufman play about the Matthew Shepard murder. Approximately 20 Ole Miss football players were involved in the heckling incident, with reports of some calling cast members 'fags.'

Says Ayanbadejo, in part:

The alleged behavior of Ole Miss football players along with freshmen from other sports and students attending the play to fulfill some underclassmen requirements is abhorrent and unacceptable.

I blame the administration as much as I blame the athletes. This is a graphic play and a graphic production. People need to have an idea of what they are getting themselves into.

In no way do I condone this behavior but you need to have a conversation with these athletes when they set foot on any campus as to what is expected from them as representatives of the university.

This is why the work of Athlete Ally and groups like the Gay Straight Alliance, which serves as a bridge for gay and straight students in high school to form an alliance of inclusivity and nondiscriminatory behavior is so important.

Unfortunately everyone was not raised with the morality and values to treat all people equally.

A representative of the Ole Miss athletes allegedly apologized - after being prompted by a member of the school's academic staff - but many didn't quite understand what they were apologizing for. [...]

So before Ole Miss is quick to hand down punishment I would like to see them take a more holistic and proactive approach in educating students and student athletes alike. All you have to do is reach out and I will be happy to discuss how I can help you take the next step."

You can read the full letter HERE.

Mississippi Football Players Disrupt College Play about Matthew Shepard

A University of Mississippi professor says that a group of Ole Miss students, including football players, disrupted a production of a campus play with "hate speech" on Tuesday night.

Michael Barnett, the assistant theatre chair, said that several students in the play told him that audience members were disruptive and used "derogatory terms" for homosexuals during a production of "The Laramie Project" on campus.

Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze confirmed to The Associated Press Thursday that football players were in the crowd. Barnett says a group of football players apologized after the play.

"Several of the students said they did not feel the apology was genuine," Barnett said. "They seemed to feel that (the football players) didn’t realize what it was that they were apologizing for." Full story here!

School Disciplines Gay Student After Homophobic Knife Threat from Roommate

A student at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg received a letter of discipline from the school for reporting that his roommate threatened him with a knife because he's gay, Fox4 Kansas City reports:

18-year-old Alex Worthley of Sedalia said his dormitory roommate threatened him with a knife because the other student didn’t like having a gay roommate.

“He was like, ‘I do have a knife and I’ll use it if I have to,’” said Worthley.

Worthley told FOX 4 that at one point he asked the roommate to turn down his music.

“And that’s when he repeated that and he was like ‘I don’t like gay people,’” Worthley said.

Worthley said he reported the threat to the Office of Student Housing. An investigator agreed to put the two students in separate dorm rooms, but Worthley said he was shocked when he received a letter of discipline just like his accuser.
“Made it feel like because I’m gay that it was my fault that those threats were made,” said Worthley.

In the letter, the school blamed Worthley for being threatened:

“There seems to be a strong possibility that some of your own actions and comments were part of the reason this situation escalated from jesting to threatening.”

Worthley said the problem could have been solved before it even began by not putting the students together. Worthley said his roommate told school officials that he didn't want a gay roommate but the school says it "does not make room assignments or reassignments based upon sexual orientation, race or other university protected status.”

It also won't comment to the news about the incident.

With the college school year starting and time for high school seniors to start making those decisions....

Featuring advice from students and administrators at more than seventy of the nation’s top colleges, the The Gay and Lesbian Guide to College Life (College Admissions Guides) lets you know how to how to thrive on campus as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and/or questioning student. Including tons of student testimonials and dozens of parent tips, the The Gay and Lesbian Guide to College Life (College Admissions Guides) offers no-nonsense guidance to LGBT students, their families, and allies on how to make the most of their college experience. Learn how you can:

·Find an LGBT-friendly school
·Evaluate administrative policies related to LGBT student life
·Deal with homo/bi/transphobia on campus
·Participate in LGBT student activism
·Get support for your health and safety needs
·Fully integrate yourself into the campus community

Jim Crow Returns