Rodney Wilson came out as a gay man to his Missouri high school students in 1994 during a history lesson on the Holocaust. It wasn’t planned, but he took that moment to push to create a national LGBTQI history month.
The Myatt Center for Diversity and Inclusion sponsored a ceremony that marked the beginning of the month on Oct. 1.
Wilson chose the month of October because since 1988, National Coming Out Day had already been celebrated on Oct. 11, a day that honors people who have “come out of the closet” and raises awareness for gay rights.
The flag-raising ceremony at the Peterson Library flagpole with advisors and student leaders in attendance, was followed by an LGBTQIA+ exhibit highlighting milestones and influential leaders within the movement.
This year’s theme was “Activism and Social Change.” Sheila Y. Smith, Myatt director, said that the theme “reminds us that the progress we celebrate today was not given freely. It was demanded, organized, and courageously fought for by generations of LGBTQA+ activists and allies who refuse to be silent in the face of injustice.”
In addition to Smith, speakers shared their connections to the community and showed how to support it.
“We need more than just symbolic gestures, we need meaningful action,” said Dora Crespo, vice president of community advocacy and diversity for Undergraduate Student Government Association (USGA) while speaking on LGBTQIA+ civil rights. “Rainbow flags are beautiful but they are not enough. Real change requires policy that protects us. It requires classrooms that tell our history, healthcare that honors our identities, and institutions that have a zero tolerance for hate.”
Speaker Leo LeBlanc, the executive assistant of PRIDE and a Myatt Center peer educator, spoke about Executive Order 14187 which was put in place by the Trump administration to stop child gender-affirming care.
“American orders like Executive Order 14187, titled ‘Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,’ paints gender-affirming care as a grotesque scar on human life,” said LeBlanc.
TheT order went into effect in Jan. 2025 after the Trump inauguration, and as a result hospitals such as Yale New Haven Health paused gender-affirming care programs for individuals under 19.
“This reaches closer home to me but not only for me but for the people also surrounding me today,” said LeBlanc. “For the people who require hormone based therapy may not get the medication that they need under these rigid acts.”
Smith ended the ceremony by saying, “As we celebrate the significant milestones the community has achieved, we must also acknowledge the important challenges that remain, let us continue to champion and advocate for equity building on our collective commitment and relying on one another for mutual support.”
For details about more LGBTQIA+ History Month events, follow the Myatt Center on Instagram at unewhaven_mcdi, and check the Charger Connection calendar.
