Gay Straight Alliance to host rights rally Wednesday
Samantha Hansen, co-chair of UNITY — a branch of the Office of Multicultural Affairs — said the Idaho Legislature is not addressing important issues of intersectional aggression and discrimination in the state.
To start a conversation about the problems facing Idaho residents, the University of Idaho’s Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) will host the Speak Up, Act Up rally at 12 p.m. Wednesday.
Hansen said the focus of the rally is to start conversations about intersectional aggression, women’s issues, LBGT issues and problems revolving around education and funding.
Corrin Bond | Argonaut
Gay Straight Alliance members work on creating T-shirts and advertisements for the upcoming rally.
“We are a generation that knows none of these things are separate,” Hansen said. “All of these issues are intertwined and they all affect different people.”
The rally will take place at the free speech zone between the UI Library and the Idaho Commons.
Hansen said the rally is an open forum where anyone can voice their thoughts and opinions or listen to participating GSA and UI community members speak out about a variety of social issues.
“The truth is that there are a lot of communities that feel marginalized right now,” Hansen said. “There are groups that don’t feel safe, welcome or celebrated legally or socially, and that’s a problem.”
The communities Hansen said rally organizers hope to have a voice for include LGBT, female and immigrant communities.
Hansen said the rally was originally inspired by an Add the Words protest, which she and fellow GSA members attended in February.
“We have been trying to pull a multi-issue rally together for a few years now,” Hansen said. “With the Add the Words campaign and recent events within our own administration on campus, we felt that now was the perfect time to encourage others to talk about change.”
UI junior Margaux Birdsall said the Add the Words campaign advocates for the Idaho legislature to add the words “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” to the existing Idaho Human Rights Act.
“The bill got shot down, and it really said a lot about the political culture of our state,” Birdsall said. “We realized it’s time to take action and that begins with raising awareness about important issues on campus.”
Hansen said it was at the Add the Words protests when she realized not only are many people passionate about prompting discussion and seeing a change within the state, but there is also more to the conversation than it appears.
“I realized at the protest that gathering and getting mad just wasn’t enough,” Hansen said. “The protest didn’t encompass all of the issues that we need to address as a state right now.”
Birdsall said she’s passionate about the rally, because not only is she a proponent of human rights, but she also does not feel like she is being represented within her state.
“Being a queer person myself, I don’t feel like my state legislators are doing all that they can to protect me as an individual,” Birdsall said. “I’m mad that I don’t feel safe in my home state and I don’t always feel safe around campus either.”
The lack of security is partially why the rally is necessary, Birdsall said.
She said the first step toward making a difference begins with raising awareness and prompting conversation, especially among the youth of Idaho.
“I’m a part of this because I want to see something happen,” Birdsall said. “The culture of our youth is rapidly changing, and we need to find a way to apply that change to our legislature so that we can move towards acceptance in a productive way.”
The rally is the precursor to a series of events aimed to raise awareness and begin a conversation on campus about important social issues, Hansen said.
“There is the rally on Wednesday, but things start getting really exciting after spring break,” Hansen said. “We will be showing a film on April 1 and then we will be hosting a community Speak Out shortly after.”
Hansen said she and other student volunteers will spend the next three weeks preparing for additional events. Although the preparation includes reaching out to diversity groups and other advocates, Hansen said the rally is the first step toward raising awareness.
“The Show Up, Act Up rally is a springboard practice session to see what goes right and what we need to improve on,” Hansen said. “It’s also a way to get the word out and build a foundation for a campus conversation.”
Corrin Bond can be reached at [email protected]