UA organizations celebrate Gay Days
Taniah Tudor
Issue date: 10/10/08 Section: News
A series of events including a chili cook-off, a documentary showing and a candlelight vigil will occur on and off campus this week in celebration of National Coming Out Day Saturday, Oct. 11, and in commemoration of the death of Matthew Shepard, who was murdered in an anti-gay hate crime ten years ago Oct. 12.
Gay Days stretches from Oct. 6 to Oct. 12 this year and is hosted by People Respecting Individual Differences and Equality (P.R.I.D.E.) and The Northwest Arkansas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Community Center.
Maggie Laigaie, the president of P.R.I.D.E., said Gay Days is celebrated each fall during the week of National Coming Out Day and the anniversary of Shepard's death, but the celebration also occurs in the fall so new students will know that organizations like P.R.I.D.E. are on campus.
There are a variety of events during the course of the week, both social and informational, to bring the campus community together and help sort out some of the issues that affect the daily lives of GLBT students and allies, Laigaie said.
Laigaie said some are social events for P.R.I.D.E. members to spend time together.
"Some people get twitchy if we do a whole lot of the activist stuff and don't do the fun stuff, too," Laigaie said.
Other events are open for everyone, such as the Matthew Shepard Candlelight Vigil 7 p.m. tonight on the library side of the fountain in front of the Arkansas Union.
Shepard was a 21-year-old student who was brutally beaten and left to freeze to death tied to a fence post by two other young men, Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney, near Laramie, Wyo.
Peter Triplett, a freshman psychology major, said if he were gay he would not celebrate because he is "not real big into parading it around."
Triplett has diabetes, but he said he does not participate in functions related to his illness.
"I'm not against gays or lesbians; I just think that this would target them for people making fun of them," Triplett said. "I think it's good that they all come together to support each other, I just don't think it's something I would participate in."
Gay Days stretches from Oct. 6 to Oct. 12 this year and is hosted by People Respecting Individual Differences and Equality (P.R.I.D.E.) and The Northwest Arkansas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Community Center.
Maggie Laigaie, the president of P.R.I.D.E., said Gay Days is celebrated each fall during the week of National Coming Out Day and the anniversary of Shepard's death, but the celebration also occurs in the fall so new students will know that organizations like P.R.I.D.E. are on campus.
There are a variety of events during the course of the week, both social and informational, to bring the campus community together and help sort out some of the issues that affect the daily lives of GLBT students and allies, Laigaie said.
Laigaie said some are social events for P.R.I.D.E. members to spend time together.
"Some people get twitchy if we do a whole lot of the activist stuff and don't do the fun stuff, too," Laigaie said.
Other events are open for everyone, such as the Matthew Shepard Candlelight Vigil 7 p.m. tonight on the library side of the fountain in front of the Arkansas Union.
Shepard was a 21-year-old student who was brutally beaten and left to freeze to death tied to a fence post by two other young men, Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney, near Laramie, Wyo.
Peter Triplett, a freshman psychology major, said if he were gay he would not celebrate because he is "not real big into parading it around."
Triplett has diabetes, but he said he does not participate in functions related to his illness.
"I'm not against gays or lesbians; I just think that this would target them for people making fun of them," Triplett said. "I think it's good that they all come together to support each other, I just don't think it's something I would participate in."
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