John Barham told about 20 students at PRIDE!Kent’s meeting last night that Kent State’s new LGBT group, the Queer Liberation Front, isn’t trying to usurp the power of PRIDE!Kent.

Barham, senior applied conflict management major and QLF co-founder, said the new group serves as a political outlet for LGBT students. He said there wasn’t enough energy left over in PRIDE!Kent for political activism because of the other programs the group sponsors.

Barham said both groups should work together to bring a stronger LGBT voice to campus.

“We don’t have a Martin Luther King. We don’t have a Mohandas Gandhi,” he told the group. “We only have each other.”

Barham told the PRIDE!Kent members about QLF’s upcoming demonstration for domestic partner benefits from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday in Risman Plaza. The support rally is the same day as the board of trustees meeting.

PRIDE!Kent President Amanda Boyd said students should be educated about domestic partner benefits and how they affect students.

“We’re not trying to push anything down your throat,” Boyd told PRIDE!Kent members. “It’s about being educated.”

Because of low membership at PRIDE!Kent events and meetings, Vice President Shawn Szymecki asked the members about programs they would like to see. Freshman exploratory major Kat Rybski suggested bringing more speakers with a general student appeal.

Contact ethnic affairs reporter Tim Magaw at [email protected].