Hello, I'm Celeste

[cew]

I have been following the journey of the Equality Riders. You are doing precisely what needs to be done. My college days were the worst; there was no support even at a huge public university (1980-1984).

I write a blog about Michigan (its not a gay oriented blog, just a pondering of the state of Michigan and her economy) and did a piece you might be interested in.

http://ourmichigan.blogspot.com/2007/03/gay-bar-in-gay-michigan.html

Peace be with you all.

[BruceChris]

Did you go to school in Ann Arbor? I had always heard that it was one of those ultra cool college towns, like Madison, Wisconsin. My experience in Mad City was that you could be as strange as could be, and as long as you didn't hurt anybody, people accepted you.

Clearly, different life experiences. Well, welcome, and we will pray for you. God Bless. :love: :pray:

Peace and Love, Bruce Chris

[Emproph]

Hi Celeste, :wave:

Welcome to Soulforce!

-Patrick :rainbow:

[cew]

I am a University of Illinois graduate. I don't know about now, but in the early 1980s the campus and community had lots of fundamentalist groups that would recruit students. It wasn't a campus known for wacky anything. I also lived in Madison for a brief period and enjoyed it much more. In fact, my first thought was "why didn't I go to school here?"

I have stories about Champaign-Urbana and its bars and churches.

This college visit thing that Soul Force is doing is really important. I wonder though if they could have a related program visiting campuses that are more mainstream anyway. Because kids at all colleges need support, not just at overtly hostile schools.

[Emproph]

This college visit thing that Soul Force is doing is really important. I wonder though if they could have a related program visiting campuses that are more mainstream anyway. Because kids at all colleges need support, not just at overtly hostile schools.

Last year they "only" had one bus, so I was surprised and impressed that this year they had two.

I guess we have our goal set now...Every single college in America - every single year.

I'm with ya! I say we at least aim for it. :magic:

..You've got me thinking now, I wonder how practical that would be. Funding :dollar: it seems would be the only limitation.

I know you didn't mean "every" single college, but I like to run with ideas. ;)

[nmwolfboy]

Welcome Celeste :wave:

We've had at least somewhat similar college experiences - when i chose to attend Penn State University in 1982 i assumed such a large place would be diverse enough to be welcoming to my young gay self. :eek: Ha! Boy was i naiive! :headbang: :laughing:

Your idea for visiting more mainstream colleges is a good one. i'm sure as the Equality Ride grows, there will be more stops along the way.

Again, welcome!

Pax :dove:

scott

[Zerbie]

Hi Celeste,

Welcome. Huh! Someone recommended Champagn Urbana to me as a potential grad school - that was in the late 90s - wonder what I would've thought of the climate there then. I never did apply, ended up in Houston.

What was it about the bars and churches?? Are ya gonna tell us?

My undergrad was a different case entirely. The campus intellectual atmosphere was dominated by lesbian feminists - - I absorbed a lot of talk about male hegemony and heterocentrism in my general core classes. I spent the frosh year enrolled in an all women's college at the university. There was a real oppositional dynamic between the many out lesbians, on one hand, and on the other, those homophobic young women who would warn each other, "Don't go to C dining hall, that's the lesbian dining hall." (So of course I ditched those girls and bee-lined for C dining hall with hopes high! :p )

Mostly I enjoyed the atmosphere at undergrad, but there was some fierce fighting on campus - that's when Clinton just took office, and the ROTC building on campus was picketed, and young folk would have screaming fights yelling at each other and passersby about whichever side of the Gays In The Military debate - which was ALL the talk back then.

Holy run-on sentence, Batgirl - I gotta chill! :eek: Okay, composing self: :cool:


Anyway, welcome, Celeste! :D

[cew]

There were two gay bars in the early 80s, one quiet and darkly lit with a hot, tiny dance space upstairs, and the other was an all out dance club. The dance place was frequented by gays and straights, and probably the whole spectrum...

I found the churches I had easy access to as extremely conservative. Period. And some of them were downright predatory in "evangelizing" students. Homosexual: bad. Jesus: forgiving. Christian student: straight. But that was the early 80's.

It was a difficult situation because the only intersection of gay sexuality and faith that I could find was in the presence of other individuals, not groups.
That was probably the hardest aspect. We didn't have the internet and forums and chat. And there was no Soul Force at that time.

Things were quite different.
Celeste:rainbow:

[jmiller]

Celeste:

Sorry! I should have read your last post before sending you a pvt asking you essentially what you've already stated.

Jim

[Jennifer5]

Welcome... :wave:

[BrentRichards]

when i chose to attend Penn State University in 1982 i assumed such a large place would be diverse enough to be welcoming to my young gay self. :eek: Ha! Boy was i naiive!

Hey Scott, we just missed each other at PSU! I started there in 87. Course, I was part of the problem back then ... didn't accept my own "young gay self" let alone anyone else!