By Talbert Toole
Lifestyles Editor
talbert.toole@hottytoddy.com.
*This is the last feature in a three-part series for Pride month, which is recognized nationally during the month of June.
Many LGBTQ members have shown resilience in the face of adversity in the LOU community, they said. For some, finding pride and self expression came at the cost of leaving Oxford, Mississippi and the South. For some, they found solace in the community here.
Independence, new beginnings and friendships await incoming freshmen as they grace the boundaries of the Ole Miss campus.
In the fall of 2013, Dylan Lewis found a new home at the university when his family in Mooreville, Mississippi ostracized him for identifying as gay.
Lewis writes in his op-ed piece for The New York Times, ’My Family Didn’t Accept Me. Ole Miss Did,’ that his stepfather was one of his more vicious tormentors. He used words such as “girlie,” “sissy” and “fag” to describe his stepson.
In the piece, he ventures into his story of meeting his first boyfriend. During a time he thought would be celebrated with love and compassion, Lewis said he faced his mother ordering him to pack his bags and leave home.
With college on the horizon, Lewis—like most incoming freshmen—was excited to begin a new chapter filled with acceptance. However, two months into his freshman year, Lewis witnessed what he called “adversity” and “bigotry.”
“The Laramie Project incident, for me, as an incoming student battling with things back home, made me very worried about my time at Ole Miss,” Lewis said.
The incident Lewis is referring to was in 2013 when a group of freshmen football student athletes allegedly yelled gay slurs during Ole Miss Theater’s production of the play, “The Laramie Project” that details the aftermath of a Laramie, Wyoming murder. The victim, Matthew Shepard, was openly-gay.
Lewis said he even pondered the idea of transferring schools due to the incident. However, he said he found solace in a former teacher who was an advisor for the fast track program at Ole Miss.
Lewis described his advisor as a resource he used to help work through personal situations, but said he quickly discovered a lack of LGBTQ resources for students, such as healthcare.
He said freshman year was his hardest dealing with depression and inclusion. He ultimately leaned on his advisor for guidance and comfort, who referred him to the counseling center.
“I will forever be thankful for my time at Ole Miss because of the counseling center… and the time they put in,” he said.
Lewis said his counselors saw his potential and saw him as more than a student—as a human being. That experience ultimately led him to be involved as an orientation leader and ambassador for Ole Miss.
“Through those experiences I was allowed to just be ‘Dylan’,” he said. “I wasn’t asked to be ‘the gay Dylan.’”
Lewis has since graduated from the university and is now a reading teacher in Houston, Texas with the Teach for America program. As he reflected on his time at college, he expressed that students should always be themselves.
“Not every student is going to be the stereotypical Mississippian that the media makes [Mississippians] known as,” he said. “There are people who truly value diversity and the beauty in all types of students.”
Although Lewis cherishes Ole Miss and Oxford, Houston has allowed him to witness and experience cultural diversity—especially within the LGBTQ community—that Mississippi residents may overlook.
“It just blows my mind that [cultural diversity] existed,” Lewis said. “Because being in Mississippi, you don’t get to see all of those things.”
Houston may be his new home, but Lewis said if he had not reached out to the Ole Miss faculty he would not be where he is currently in a physical, mental and emotional sense.
“I truly wake up and long for the days that I can go back to Oxford,” he said. “It’s home.”
For information on the resources available to LGBTQ individuals, please contact these local and statewide organizations:
OutOxford
OutOxford aims to provide programming that connects the university and Oxford communities, educate on LGBTQ issues, create opportunities in community service, and advocate for Oxford’s queer community.
outoxford@gmail.com
UM Pride Network
UM Pride Network is a student organization that provides advocacy and education for individuals in the University and Oxford communities. The organization works to promote acceptance and respect for individuals of all sexual orientations and gender identities.
umpridenetwork@gmail.com
OUTGrads at the University of Mississippi
OUTGrads promote and foster community and institutional representation for University of Mississippi’s LGBTQIA+ identified graduate and professional students and their allies.
outgrads.umiss@gmail.com
The Center for Inclusion and Cross Cultural Engagement at Ole Miss
The center works to develop programs and services that support the University of Mississippi’s core value of inclusiveness.
(662)-915-1689
inclusion@olemiss.edu
GLAAD—Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
As a dynamic media force, GLAAD tackles tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue that leads to cultural change.
https://www.glaad.org/tags/mississippi
HRC—Human Rights Campaign
As the largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Americans, the Human Rights Campaign represents a force of more than 3 million members and supporters nationwide — all committed to making HRC’s vision a reality.
https://www.hrc.org/local-issues/mississippi
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