Author: Tara Teets
Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, or PAAR, will be sending team members from both their prevention and crisis intervention departments to Chatham’s campus throughout the semester to discuss topics surrounding sexual assault prevention. The first workshop was held on January 25, focused on the importance of consent.
To draw LGBT History Month to a close, Chatham University hosted a showing of the documentary “Stonewall Uprising” in Eddy Theater on October 26. The turnout was small, but for those who attended, it was an extremely informative and entertaining experience.
The subject of the documentary, while focusing mainly on the Stonewall Riots, also showed some rather disturbing clips from 1960’s public service announcements, as well as vivid recreations of the police raid of the Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969, against which members of the gay community rioted. The film featured real-life accounts from multiple parties involved, ranging from club queens, journalists in a building next door, and a police officer who was called to raid the club. These varying perspectives showed just how complex this uprising was, and how the riot caused a revolution.
The film described violent accounts that happened regularly within the club and demonstrated how homosexuality was illegal and understood as a lewd act. The severity of the documentary, whether it was from interviews with people against “legalizing gay” or the brutal dramatizations of the police brutality, left some of the viewers in Eddy speechless.
“It’s just crazy to think that if I lived back in this time, I could’ve gone through this,” said first-year student Delenn Fingerlow about the attacks on the LGBT community at the time. “It’s insane what these people went through.”
“I knew of Stonewall going into this, but now I knew how bad it really was,” said first-year student Hunter Yedlowski. “It was wild.”
In the documentary, one man who witnessed the uprising, a journalist for the “Village Voice” at the time, called the uprising, “a Rosa Parks moment.” The graphic detail used in this documentary was explicit, and what made the stories of these individuals so intense and valid was their passionate recount of a horrible memory in their lives. These were personal stories that were told with the consent of individuals who survived attacks. No gory details were spared. In order to revoke a response, the filmmakers used the stylistic techniques of both actuality and archival footage in order to give a full documentary experience.
The students who attended this event had nothing but good things to say about the film. One student, who chose to remain anonymous, said that “it was a really eye-opening experience.” The point of the film was to evoke an emotional response from the audience, and it did just that.
Before “Rent,” before “Will and Grace,” before “Glee,” before Legalize Gay shirts were sold at American Apparel, before “Same Love” by Macklemore, the very idea of same-sex marriage being recognized and legal was a dream, and for some, it was even laughable. With a few determined, but unsuccessful attempts in the 1970s there was finally some headway in 1993, only to be deterred by the infamous and ultimately unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act. Then federalism struck and one by one like dominoes states started writing same-sex marriage into their laws or banning it outright in some situations. Over the course of a lifetime for some the topic of same-gendered marriage was debated in living rooms and television networks.
Now let us fast forward three decades, a great deal of litigation, and a dozen hold out states, and we’ve finally gotten the news we were waiting for.
“They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right. The judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is reversed. It is so ordered,” Justice Anthony Kennedy said on June 26, 2015, when the Supreme Court declared that marriage equality was the law of the land.
It should be noted that before it was so ordered, same-sex couples have been making their commitments to each other known for decades. Progressive churches have been marrying queer couples since the 1970s. Before this decision in particular, the Presbyterian Church of the United States added same-sex couples to their definitions of marriage.
To celebrate the Supreme Court’s decision as well as the church’s decision, East Liberty Presbyterian Church hosted a celebration of the new law and marriage vows old and new. The ceremony was a mix of tradition and modernism. No one was given away as the couples marched down the aisle with their soon-to-be or already spouses; however, biblical passages were read aloud, and the church’s choir sang hymns.
Eighteen couples that varied in age, gender, and marital duration were married or remarried in some case. Some were dawning classic wedding white gowns. Some wore suits and ties. Others chose a more casual outfit of jeans and leather jackets. A few couples were even accompanied by children acquired over the course of their relationships.
“God is love and marriage is a gift,”the Reverend Dr. Randy Bush said, adding, “For those of you that have had to wait for your relationships to be recognized, on behalf of the church, I’m sorry.”
East Liberty Presbyterian Church prides itself as being a place of acceptance and diversity. It also has a philosophy of allowing individual couples define marriages for themselves. As Dr. Bush said, “Marriage is a covenant between two people of mutual love, fidelity, commitment, and trust. It is the highest ideal to which two people can aspire, whether or not it leads to children, whether or not it lasts for a lifetime and whether or not it involves a man and a woman or two women or two men.”
As the phrase, “You may now kiss your spouses” was said to the sanctuary of supportive witnesses, a sense of new beginnings and all around joy was in the air as the couples departed to the reception. East Liberty Presbyterian Church holds services on Sundays at 8:45 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Though the chalk did not last long due to the rainstorm, the Chatham University This is Me! Queer-Straight Alliance kicked off a month-long series of events with Chalk the Quad. Students gathered at the quad on Wednesday, October 14, to draw different words and pictures conveying self-expression, respect, and flat-out fun.
The following evening, students poured into Rea Coffeehouse for the Coming Out Dialogues, where students listened to their peers tell stories of their emergence into the LGBTQ+ community. Due to the inclement weather, turnouts had been small, but those who participated had called it “a great experience” and “a good way to get to know each other.”
Comedienne Emma Willmann, an openly lesbian funnywoman who is known for her widespread sense of humor, also took the stage at Rea. This show provided a little break from the stresses of midterms to laugh a little and have fun with fellow classmates in a judgment-free environment.
October has been jam-packed with events for LGBTQ History Month. Next up on the docket is a screening of documentary “Celebrating Stonewall: The Stonewall Uprising,” in Eddy Theater on Monday, October 26, at 7 p.m.
The events on campus have provided an outlet to the queer community and acted as a catalyst for social change on campus. This month proved that Chatham, as a community, is trying its best to stay intact as an accepting community throughout all the previous changes added tension to the campus, and they met expectations as a social glue that made people bind together to support a similar cause.
Chatham University is a campus of many different facets, and one topic that frequently springs up good feelings is the acceptance of the LBGTQ+ community. The campus plans to celebrate LGBT History month, which starts in October, with several different events that will spark the interest of everyone.
The “Chalk the Quad” event, hosted by the This Is Me! Queer-Straight Alliance, will take place on October 8. Students will have the chance to express themselves through decorating the quad. The next day, This Is Me! will hold a rainbow flag hand printing event in Anderson Dining Hall to support the LGBTQ+ community, and they will host the Coming Out Dialogues in Rea Coffeehouse where students can share their experiences with their peers. At the month’s end, “Celebrating Stonewall: The Stonewall Uprising”will be screened in Eddy Theatre on October 27. It is a great opportunity for anyone interested in history, equal rights, or good film in general.
These on-campus events will allow students to express themselves. They assure them that they are not alone, and they provide some fun outside of the normal campus activities.
In San Francisco during 1978, Gilbert Baker hand-dyed and sewed the colorful flag that is now a symbol of pride for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual/Ally community, also known as LGBTQIA.
Now, over 35 years later, Chatham students, faculty, and staff are able to walk through the Main Quad to see 12 rows of colorful paper bags—two rows per pride color—representing the flag that celebrates the LGBTQIA community.
Laced with Christmas lights, the bags—vibrant with color by day—turn into a glowing symbol of pride by night to celebrate LGBTQIA Awareness Month.
“It’s a colorful representation of the fight for equality. It took a lot of work to put up, maybe five or six hours in the rain,” sophomore Alice Shy said about the installment. “There were RAs, Residence Life staff, and Student Affairs staff participating. I had to go.”
“I helped put it together. Lots of work went into it. The flag glows and each color stands for something different,” senior Cat Giles said.
The original flag had eight stripes of color but was reduced to the six colors that have been common since 1979. Though it is believed that the flag is just the rainbow, the colors actually have meaning. In horizontal descending order are red meaning life, orange meaning healing, yellow meaning sunlight, green meaning nature, blue meaning serenity, and violet meaning spirit.
“It’s the coolest thing ever. I feel like every student should see it, especially at night,” said first-year Asia Williams.
When asked about the LGBTQIA community in general, sophomore Lauren Brown was excited to address how the topic related to her.
“I’m hyped about the LGBT and the black community. Coming from an African American standpoint, this whole movement was adopted from the Civil Rights Movement so we should support them. It’s a nice thing they are doing,” she said.
Brown also recommended the TED talk, “50 Shades of Gay,” with iO Tillett Wright to anyone who wants to get more insight on the movement.
The positive feedback wasn’t unanimous, however.
“I think it’s nice for representation but I don’t really have an opinion.” sophomore Tiffany Schmitt said.
“I don’t have any strong feelings but it’s pretty and it looks nice,” first-year Imani Constant said.
That didn’t stop the optimism, however. In a group of eleven first-years, there was nothing but positive feedback.
“I think it’s wonderful,” said Alex Waasdorp, the president of the Class of 2018.
“Yeah, it’s pretty awesome,” said first-year Maura Cray-ton said. “This month is important to me because I am one.”
Another first-year, Kara Doss, also closely identified with the issue.
“This month recognizes all people who have been harassed and killed for centuries so we can all be accepted. Who even started saying that being gay was wrong? Even Abraham Lincoln had a male lover,” said Doss.
“Awareness is acceptance,” first-year Pearl McCann said.
Chatham University proves to be an environment that supports people from all walks of life, as Residence Assistant Emma Marik was proud to point out.
“I think its awesome, and it adds to Chatham’s diversity and the spirit of loving everyone,” she said.
Chatham’s kick off of the LGBTQIA Awareness Month was a success with only one grievance from Cat Giles, one unrelated to the cause itself.
“I don’t like that it uses energy. There are Christmas lights used for the glow. As a school for sustainability, I think we could have found another way,” said Giles. “But I like the cause. I think this month is a great opportunity to learn more about the LGBTQIA communities’ struggles and achievements. It’s a good thing.”
