Bloomington High School South, The Gothic, 2014, Page 88

Description:	^-«lAttendants and volunteerscountered discrimination withcelebration at the PRIDE LGBTQFilm Festival, January 23-25.For a few weeks in January, it seemedthat discrimination would win out in thestate of Indiana.The Indiana Senate voted toadvance HJR-3, an amendment to thestate Constitution that would definemarriage as a union between a man anda woman and restrict the rights related tomarriage under Indiana law. But thePRIDE community would not back down.These are basic human rights, saidsenior Eva Marsh, PRIDE Film Festivalsfirst youth volunteer and recipient of a BeMore volunteer award. Its incrediblydegrading. Its setting back history.Bloomingtonians fought theproposed amendment in the way theyknew best - with a colorful and creativecelebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, andtransgender rights. We didnt want todwell on [HJR-3 at the festival], Marshsaid. Instead, the volunteers behindBloomingtons annual LGBTQ film festivalfocused on creating an open andaccepting atmosphere where participantscould enjoy live performances and filmswith LGBTQ themes.For Marsh, this mission waspersonal. It helped me when I wascoming out to be in a welcoming placewith other people that had experiencedsomething similar in their lifetime, shesaid. Volunteering for PRIDE was Marshsway of extending this opportunity toothers. I wanted to be a part of makinga community that is safe for people toexpress themselves ... Even amongstrangers, you can feel comfortable.According to festival attendantsfrom Bloomington South, Marsh and thePRIDE steering committee succeeded. Itsay*BIRDIE toldWhen students wanted a snow day in January, they rantedover twitter to the newly-made MCCSC twitter account.If you aint talkin about a snow day, then Idont want to talk @MCCSC_EDU.^m freshman Nathan SapalNow playing thenew hit #/ single,We all hateMCCSC feat.Bey once.junior Colin Shassberger ^0Hey @MCCSC_EDU will u go ahead andcancel school now instead of waking meup by calling my house at 2 am.. ? Thanks.\|jj\|» sophomore Emma Fisher@MCCSC_EDU I see you flirtin callingthe 2 hour delay. Now show me itsreal and cancel it., • sophomore Aaron Keselichan accepting environment, saidsophomore Stella Winterman, whoreturned to PRIDE for her second year in2014 with friends from Souths PROUDclub. Its really open. It didnt feel tooserious.Winterman attended the festival forits primary purpose: entertainment. Shecited several movies, including the shortThe Maiden and the Princess, as standouts. However, she also appreciatedanother, loftier goal. It raises awarenessso people will be more accepting.Sophomore Spencer Biery alsovalued the festivals emphasis onacceptance. It was nice ... to seeLGBTQ couples [in films], he said. Youdont usually get to see that inconventional films. A fan of the full-lengthed film GBF, which playedSaturday night, Biery said, I think itsimportant to have people be exposed tocreative cinema because you dont getthat anywhere else.Armed with this creative cinema,the PRIDE committee was able toalleviate some of the ill feelings thataccompanied the struggle against HJR-3,which was later postponed until 2016.While the festival could not directlyimpact policy, it could foster acceptance,one film at a time.-EMILY MOONme-whats iThe mostpopular namesof 2014 wereAnna and Bryce(Liam and Zoeyin 2013). Butwhat was bigwhen we werelittle? Here arethe namescurrently mostcommon to thehalls of South.Pictured: Junior Emily Ferrell, sophomoreEmilee Lewis, junior Emily Shaffer, seniorEmily Hawkins
Source:	http://cdm17129.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/hs-bloomsouth/id/9194
Collection:	Bloomington High School South

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