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A A A MORTGAGE
Æ fir à Advocates
by Patricia Nell Warren
espite controversy— indeed, because
of it— the 6th annual Southeastern
Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual College
C onference just stam ped its fiery
lambda on Bible-belt sensibility. Site
this year: Middle Tennessee State University in
Murfreesboro. Big lesson o f the weekend: Anti
gay hate can spark a powerful reaction among
fair-minded straight youth and adults.
Over 300 students came from every state in the
region, for the biggest turnout yet. Co-chairs Allie
Sultan and Michael Grantham titled the gathering
“And Liberty for A ll.” Three days, Feb. 14-16,
were packed with workshops, networking, a re
source fair, a coffeehouse, on-line chats, book
signings, a fund-raising reception, a banquet and
a dance, plus an open meeting to discuss what
campus will host the ’98 gathering. A hardworking
volunteer corps from M TSU ’s Lambda Associa
tion supported the co-chairs throughout.
A preconference blast o f hate e-mail, death
threats, sulfurous sermons and edged editorials
had fizzled by opening day. The student organiz
ers simply publicized threats to the media. Thanks
D
film finished to loud applause from the packed
auditorium.
Keynote speeches came from Torie Osborne,
Lynn Shepodd, Paul Yandurra and myself. David
Mixner, also scheduled to speak, got caught in
airline-strike snarls and was unable to reach
Murfreesboro.
M ainstream media— local press, CBS and
NBC affiliates— gave this historic conference the
notice it deserved. The campus TV station pro
vided positive coverage. Unfortunately, major
gay news media were absent. But regional com
munity publications, including Xenogeny, did
support “Liberty” with enthusiasm.
Allie Sultan told me: “ I have received dozens
o f e-mail messages since Sunday. People have
already started to become more active in the
South.... On Saturday I’m going to Asheville,
N.C., to be at a joint meeting with three college
LGB groups from the area. [I’ve been] talking
with some heterosexual people in my classes...it
gives me a new, different sense of happiness to be
accessible for heterosexual people as well as the
gay community here at M TSU!”
Colleen Weed
9 9 0 0 S. W. W ilshire Street • Portland, Oregon 9 7 2 2 5
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to cool and last-minute efforts by moderate church
groups in town, who called for a show of Christian
love over a show of rage, the conference went off
without incident. The Baptist Student Union,
stepping over elders’ protests that their action was
condoning homosexuality, served a big Southern
breakfast to the conference-goers, complete with
grits. They still believe that traditional marriage is
the only permissible place for sex, the Baptist kids
explained, but they were uneasy about the frenzy
of hate and wanted to make a Jesus-like gesture.
Focus o f the frenzy was a screening o f It’s
Elementary. This popular documentary, with its
message that grade-school kids need positive
information about gay issues, had been protested
elsew here in the U nited States. Sultan and
Grantham told me that initially the MTSU adm in
istration shrugged off their requests for tightened
security. But after a look at the death threats, and
a phone call from civil-rights attorney Abby
Rubenfeld (who got Tennessee’s sodomy law
dismissed), MTSU grew concerned about pos
sible violence. Filmgoers walked into Tucker
Theater past a metal detector and campus secu
rity. Outside, several squad cars patrolled. But
only a few shivering picketers showed up. The
can understand. No huge pool of cash avail
Michael G rantham ’s comment was: “The re
sponses from across the country are great. They
really make us feel like w e’ve done what w e’ve
aimed to do. Allie and I hope that everyone feels
empowered enough to initiate a much needed
social change throughout the Southeast and United
States.”
Personally, I left M urfreesboro feeling more
hopeful. There are growing signs that hate reli
gion will be rejected by the fair-minded among
Christian students and adults across the country.
Indeed, the South is not the monolith of redneck
religion that some believe it to be. The South
birthed Thomas Jefferson and religious freedom.
The South was where a black openly gay Quaker
activist named Bayard Rustin helped the Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr. develop the civil-rights
movement of the ’60s.
Next year’s Southeast conference may well be
greeted with more howls of protest. But no doubt
about it, these empowering youth events are
denting the Bible belt.
Patricia Nell Warren is author of The Front
Runner and other books.
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