By Icis Morton
The Gay-Straight Alliance has been silent at MSU for the past two years, but is back with a slight adjustment to the organization’s name.
Now called the P.R.O.U.D (Protecting the Right of Others, Unity and Diversity) Gay-Straight Alliance, the organization is made up of straight, bisexual, gay, lesbians and transgender individuals.
“The members are people who are willing to stand up and fight for equality and peace towards each and every individual no matter what his or her sexual orientation is,” said Abigail Scott, president of P.R.O.U.D.
Scott said the group was inactive for a few years before she and others decided to revive the organization.
“The organization exists to protect anyone of the LGBT community including MSU, their friends and loved ones,” Scott said.
Scott plans to dispel misconceptions about the community, such as the idea that all homosexuals are “hyper-sexual.”
“The idea that if a straight man is found around a pay man, that gay man will automatically want to hit on him because he is a male,” Scott said. “Of course that is not true.”
Scott is prepared for any backlash the student organization might receive from the community.
“This organization is not going to affect Christianity in any way other than to perhaps make some more judgmental Christians more tolerant,” Scott said. “People will oppose our group but those same people can perhaps be enlightened through the work that the group does.”
There are homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual and transgender Christians across the globe, just as there are people of different sexual orientation in any religion, Scott said.
P.R.O.U.D. will make a public statement of advocacy at Word AIDS day, Dec. 1st.
With 20 members already on board, the organization uses Orgsync to communicate with current and prospective students interested in joining the group.
Ryan McKelvy • Nov 4, 2011 at 9:45 AM
The organization is actually call Providing Respect for Others, Unity, and Diversity. The other was a candidate for the new name before we decided on that one.