Sometimes people have to die to spawn a movement.
The brutal death of Matthew Shepard, who was tied and beaten in a cold Wyoming pasture in 1998 because of his sexual orientation, is the event which led so many people to unload their secrets and tell the world who they really are.
Most people call it "coming out of the closet" and Oct. 11 is set aside to celebrate it.
Next week, in a series of events from Sunday to Wednesday, Ole Miss' gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgenderred community will do just that.
The Allies support group on campus helped organize the events for the week, which include speeches, a panel discussion, film and theatre.
There will also be an information table in the Union plaza from noon to 1 p.m., Monday through Wednesday.
Allies is a group of around 70 faculty and staff members, who seek to improve diversity on campus and keep it free of harassment or prejudice for all members based on their sexual orientation, said Patricia Barrios, one of the nine members of the group's steering committee.
Vicki Mahan, whose efforts brought Allies to campus, said it is similar to the national safe-zone programs for students that have been around for a long time.
She said although the program centers on needs of gay and lesbian students, it is a service for anyone in need of help.
"We are here to provide resources to students who need help with whatever they are going through," Mahan said.
Barrios said Allies trains new members on the issues of gay life about once each semester, depending on interest.
They are trying to enhance the training by giving more testimony from members of the gay community.
Anyone interested in becoming a member should contact Vicki Mahan in the counseling center, or any other member.
A candlelight vigil in memory of Matthew Shepard Sunday at 7 p.m. begins the events. The vigil will include speeches by Oxford Mayor Richard Howorth, Associate Dean of Students Lloyd Holmes, Billy Barrios, a psychologist with the counseling center and Kenneth Jones, a theatre and history major.
"We wanted to have people who represent the community and university, to show that they both support this way of thinking and this movement," Patricia Barrios said.
Jones, a junior from Oxford, will speak about Matthew Shepard's death five years ago, and about his experiences in directing "The Laramie Project."
Jones and 11 others will present a reading of the project Monday at 7 p.m. in the education auditorium. Admission is $2.
He said he has always felt readings are more powerful than normal plays.
"There is nothing else on stage for the audience to lock on," Jones said.
"They are forced to deal with the dialogue and the characters and the issues they are addressing."
The original project began four weeks after Shepard's death, initiated by the Tectonic Theatre Project to contribute to the dialogue surrounding the murder.
Its organizer, Moises Kaufman, wanted to look at the town of Laramie, where the murder occurred, and see its differences and similarities with the nation.
Jones said he organized the presentation when he heard Allies was looking for events.
"I thought that it would offer something to go nicely with the events and make the week more special," Jones said.
Tuesday's event is a film presented by the Writing Center's Film Series.
It is titled "But, I'm a Cheerleader," and according to Writing Center Director Brenda Robertson, follows the trials of a young lesbian sent to be "straightened out" at a camp for "misguided" people.
Robertson described it as "very campy," but not without a message.
"People are who they are, and you cannot straighten out their sexual orientation," she said.
She said the film, which screens at 8 p.m. in the Writing Center, will satisfy even those not interested in gay issues.
It is designed to educate.
Robertson, also a member of Allies, said she joined the group to give students a place to come and escape what can be the cruel and uneducated treatment they often face.
"They need a place to feel comfortable," Robertson said.
A panel discussion on Wednesday, sponsored by the student group Courage, Unity and Pride, ends the events.
President Chris Kelly said the group provides a supportive environment for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgenderred community and their supporters.
Panel topics include issues in the workplace, mental health and "queer theory."
Former professor Jack Brown, Billy Barrios and Director of Gender Studies Deborah Barker will lead the discussion and answer questions.
"We chose these people because I know them to be very knowledgeable on each of these issues," Kelly, a junior from Sherman, said.
Kelly, who helped organize the events, said they are designed to generate talk about issues people do not discuss.
He said people in the gay community often feel pressured into silence and need support on these issues, support Shepard never got.
"(Shepard) is important because, in a way, he represents all of us," Kelly said.
"From what I know of him, he was a good person, valued by the people who knew him, and then people of pure prejudice came along and took him away."
