Is EIU Pride physically and verbally sheltered from prejudices on campus since its founding in 1992?

Aiden Ethington, President for Pride, said that he and Pride members have never really encountered any prejudice students on campus.

Nick Canaday, Social Director for Pride, said Pride gives people a sense of wellbeing and allows them to have a community to fit in with.

“Pride provides a community for people to safely express themselves, and come together with other gay or lesbian students. We also accept others from different backgrounds, and lifestyles,” Canaday said.

Ethington said Pride is committed to tending LGBT issues and concerns and informing other students like Courtney Sanders.

Sanders, a sophomore accounting major, said that if being gay is such a normal thing to people, then why are they trying to get people to accept them.

“They should just be them and love who they are,” Sanders said.

U.S Department of Education data collected to the 1992 Clergy Act. This act requires colleges and universities across the nation to report campus across the nation to report campus crimes and security polices to both the campus and the U.S Department of Education.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports on hate crime statistics. The FBI reports on 1998 hate crimes statistics is based on reports from 450 colleges and universities from 40 states. Of these universities, 222 reported 241 incidents of hate crime during the year.

The FBI data indicate that 16 percent were motivated by bias based on sexual orientation.

Shanise Lathan, a junior psychology major, said she thinks the reason why students do not hear of LGBT discrimination frequently is because Eastern is a small and united campus.

“We really don’t hear about people being prejudice against LGBT (students) here, and that’s good,” Lathan said. ” As long as no one makes anybody uncomfortable by trying to hit on them.”

To help educate the public, Pride promotes LGBT Month.

Many events that take place during the month, including National Coming Out Day, an event where people were free to express their secrets in the Library Quad Monday.

Canaday said LGBT Month gives people a sense of wellbeing and allows them to have a community to fit in with.

Sean Callihan, action director for Pride, said that their organization’s main focus is outreach to dispel stereotypes.

“We go to classrooms and do panel discussion, and one of the events that we host is the Diva Drag Show-to help raise money for charities”, Callihan said. “We try to give the LGBT community a face that people can recognize us.”

The organization also do other charity work such as Sexual Assault Counseling and Information Service, an organization that helps shelter rape victims, and Project Lazarus, where they help provide shelter for AIDS victims in New Orleans.

Ethington said Pride also has a Facebook group with 170 members, and 20-30 people usually attend meetings.

Pride has meetings 8 p.m. Mondays in the Effingham Room at the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Dana Jackson can be reached at 581-7942 or dajackson@eiu.edu.