Gay Rights Revolutionaries disbands
Written by Drew Parker Tuesday, 21 February 2012 21:04
Gay Rights Revolutionaries, a campus LGBT activism group disbanded last December.
GRR, which became a student organization during the fall semester, was created to spread awareness of LGBT issues on campus with activism. During its short time as a student organization, GRR organized Honk for Love, an event intended to gain LGBT acceptance from rush hour drivers on Main Street and Lincoln, and Bridging the Gap, a debate on religion and homosexuality.
Justin Lagore, a junior public relations major and GRR co-founder, said although the events were successful, the group had significant financial problems as soon as it began.
“There was a lot of red tape from [The Center for Student Involvement] when we were trying to register. It wasn’t our fault or their fault, but we reached this weird state of being half-registered [as a student organization],” Lagore said. “Things wouldn’t pan out with scheduling, and we started to see a steady decline in membership over time. Things just kind of lost fire from there.”
Lagore said the organization received no university funding and GRR members paid for meetings, food and other materials out of their own pockets.
“We loved having everyone show up for the meetings,” Lagore said. “It was expensive yet worth it to us, but money only lasts so long.”
Lorenzo Thomas, a junior philosophy major and GRR co-founder said he believes groups like GRR are not meant to be within a student organization setting.
“I think the worst thing we did was to try to become a student organization in the first place. We were not meant to be upstairs in the Student Center,” Thomas said. “We can’t put a movement somewhere like that. You don’t put revolutionaries in a room.”
Lagore said although GRR has disbanded, he has taken a vacant board position for Pride! Kent and plans to incorporate more activism within the group, which is now a social organization, by beginning an activist committee.
“Since working with the Pride! board, I have tried to bring in some of the same activist ideals from GRR,” Lagore said. “Pride! is attempting to become a multifaceted organization. We’re not looking to start GRR back up, but the former members are behind Pride! in taking a more activist stance.”
Thomas said that even though GRR has disbanded, he hopes that students will continue to promote activism for LGBT rights and remember that they don’t need a group for their voices to be heard.
“The worst possible thing is apathy,” Thomas said. “Even if something doesn’t work out exactly how you wanted, at least you stood up and tried.”
Contact Drew Parker at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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written by Hotel Photographer, April 12, 2012
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written by Extinct, March 28, 2012
Pride has also been impossible to reach as I've tried to schedule lgbt trainings as an RA on campus for my building, but has never contacted me back after e-mailing their president and Justin Lagore. I even overheard Lagore talking about taking over student organizations in the hub. Maybe these people should be less concerned about "taking over student organizations" and more concerned about actually fulfilling their duties on campus.
Embarrassing.
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