Student diversity hosted an event on Wednesday, Oct. 21st. This all-day event was held to educate students and faculty about the LGBT community.
“This year is the 50th Anniversary of the LGBT civil rights movement so we are raising awareness about the LGBT civil rights movement and it’s history as well as some of the privileges that we have or we don’t have,” Sarah Carter, the assistant director of the office of student diversity, said.
They had a number of events that students could participate in. One side of the steps in front of Founders had informational games to tell you about the movement like a LGBT trivia and a “test your knowledge” game about gender and sexuality terms. There was also a showing of a timeline of the movement to show how far they have come in the past 50 years.
“I feel like the community has come far and long in the sense that students feel, within the college environment, that they are more open to discussing sexuality, more open to sharing their personal experiences in regards to their sexual orientation,”
Stefania Forte, graduate intern at the student diversity office, said.
The other side of the event was dedicated to a station where students could tye-dye t-shirts to match the colors on the flag corresponding to their sexual orientation.
They also focused on being an Ally for the movement, where non-LGBT students can showed their support as well.
“We want students to know, within the LGBT community that there’s support here for them but also 
students who want to learn how to be an ally and also be involved in ally train that we have available,” Forte said.
The community has come a long way from not being accepted and not having legal marriage rights, to becoming more of an open and accepted community around the country. Within the past few months, gay marriage has been legalized in all states reminding everyone that love always wins.
But it was not always so easy getting to the point of where legal marriage for all would be even a possibility. The LGBT community has had a rough road behind them from protesting in city halls and churches, to being threatened from others around the globe.
A strong community like LGBT fought endlessly to get their rights that they knew they deserved. People see the LGBT community in different ways based on beliefs and what they are told about the community. The only way to find out about beliefs is to educate students and those who pass about what know about the LGBT community and know the right terminology that comes along with it.
Organizations have been trying to educate the country about LGBT and how to be an Ally for the community. Being an Ally means basically being an advocate for the community of LGBT. Anyone can become an ally for being a support system to anyone in the community or to share your journey within the community.
