Reaching Out to
Southeastern Oklahoma
by Paula
Sophia
Feature
Columnist
paulasophia@gayly.com |
MCALESTER - Until very recently if one wanted to get
involved with an educational and advocacy organization concerned
with the fellowship, well being and equal rights of gay, lesbian,
bisexual, and transgendered Oklahomans, one would have to go to
Oklahoma City or Tulsa. It may seem that the only places hospitable
to glbt people are large urban centers. If one is glbt and lives in
a small town one may expect an isolated life, a life lived totally
in the closet.
Paul Prichard, the newly elected president of
McPride, understands how one can feel isolated in a small town or
rural environment, but he believes that such isolation is not
necessary. “There are a lot of gay and lesbian people in southeast
Oklahoma, more than anyone would think,” he said. “The most
challenging thing about small town life is coming out and finding
supportive people.”
McPride, a newly founded organization
based in McAlester, Oklahoma, is dedicated to helping glbt people
within a fifty-mile radius of McAlester find each other for support
and education, not only for them but their friends and families as
well. Additionally, McPride offers service and advocacy projects to
raise the awareness and acceptance of glbt people throughout their
communities in southeast Oklahoma.
Paul Prichard said that he lives as an
openly gay man in his small town of Krebs, Oklahoma. “I have not
been harassed that much,” he said. “I have been called names from
time to time, but most of the people in my community let me
be.”
He did admit, though, that there is a lot of tolerance
about his sexuality as long as people don’t have to deal with what
it means to be gay. “I was out in town with my boyfriend once, and
we didn’t even hold hands or anything, but there were some rumors
later that we were out there flaunting it, and I felt a lot of
resentment from some of the community.” It was an experience that
reminds him about how much work needs to be done to promote real
tolerance in his community.
“It’s time that those of us who
can and are willing to come together and create and provide help and
service to gay and lesbian people and their families in this area,”
Prichard said. “Gay and lesbian people need to know they are not
alone and that there are people, both gay and straight who are
working to help them and to be their advocates.”
McPride has
been designed to foster personal and community growth with support
for glbt people and allies by promoting a safe environment in which
to gather. They want to provide social, educational, and service
opportunities to their communities through networking and
collaboration, and to serve as an advocate and informational source
for glbt and allied people and their communities. Most importantly,
McPride wants to help create a healthy inclusive society free of
oppression and discrimination and respectful of human diversity.
McPride became a formally organized organization on August
5, 2004, but they have been having meetings for several months now.
“Attendance has been great,” Prichard said. “We had fourteen people
in our last meeting.” He said that they are averaging about a dozen
people every meeting. “We are hoping for more participation as the
word gets out.”
McPride normally meets monthly on the first
Thursday of every month at 7 pm. If anyone is interested in getting
involved with McPride please e-mail Paul or at paul@mcpride.org. Also, feel free to
check out the McPride website at www.mcpride.org.
McPride officers are looking forward to the various activities McPride will be
doing. “We are writing letters to our political representatives and
to the editors of various local publications to announce our
presence and to invite a much needed dialogue about the issues that
we care about, issues like the proposed amendment to the Oklahoma
State Constitution to define marriage as a union exclusively between
one man and one woman.”
McPride officers have also announced that McPride
is working with OutOK and will be screening Tying the Knot at the
McAlester Public Library on October 28th at 7 pm. Also, as before mentioned
the October meeting will be held on Thursday September 30th. McPride
will resume their regular meeting schedule in November.
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Printed from The
Gayly Oklahoman website on Friday, September 17, 2004, 8:20:34
AM.
Originally published in Vol. 22, No. 18,
9/15/2004
Copyright 2004, All Rights
Reserved.
No Reprinting of this material is allowed
without express written permission from the publisher.
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