GLBTA plans for Pride Week

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Allies Student Union met Monday to discuss and plan several events for Pride Week, which takes place from March 30 to April 3 across Wayne State’s campus.

GLBTA Co-President Philip McDonald said same-sex activist and WSU philosophy professor John Corvino and Glen Stanton of Focus on the Family, a Christian organization, are tentatively scheduled to square off in a friendly debate this semester.

The debate is titled: “Same-Sex Marriage: A Civil Debate.”

“They’re friends and they do a great job of playing off of each other,” said McDonald. “It was a huge draw when they were here in 2006, so we’re trying to get this organized again.”

 
Pride Week will be filled with many activities on campus, including “Paint the Rock,” a themed display case in the Student Center, and several host speakers and seminars.

McDonald said that he hopes to include social worker Joe Court in the events for Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31.

“There will possibly be a candlelight vigil and name reading to honor transgender individuals who have suffered through violence or been murdered simply because of how they are born,” said McDonald.

GLBTA member James Perry said the group is very receptive to new ideas from its members.

“I typically don’t get involved in the event planning,” he said. “But the group is very open to new suggestions from its members.”

Perry pointed to a suggestion that he gave in the meeting regarding transgender children as an example.

“I was watching a 20/20 special that documented children as young as 4 years old who insisted to their parents that they were born as the wrong sex,” said Perry. “It was simply shocking.”

Also, McDonald said that the Gender and Sexuality Resource Community is actively seeking volunteers from the student body.

The GSRC provides a base where all students can come together to raise awareness, promote understanding and preach the acceptance of others.

“The GSRC serves as a place for peer counseling, say, if a person is having trouble and needs a place to find somebody to speak to,” said GLBTA member Robert Manchester. “It is not bound to one form of sexuality or another.”

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