{"id":82288,"date":"2024-10-11T15:09:43","date_gmt":"2024-10-11T20:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=82288"},"modified":"2024-10-11T15:09:44","modified_gmt":"2024-10-11T20:09:44","slug":"fhsu-celebrates-national-coming-out-day-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=82288","title":{"rendered":"FHSU celebrates National Coming Out Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>By RORY MOORE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Tiger Media Network<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fort Hays State University\u2019s Gender and Sexuality Alliance operated a table in the Quad on Friday to promote National Coming Out Day to students. Various books about LGBTQ+ topics were presented, and the alliance connected with students to educate them about the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kiernan McCarty, president of SGA and senior majoring in studio art, sets out to find others in the community and make them feel included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur main initiative is to be representations for LBGTQ+ students on campus and just give those people visibility on the Fort Hays campus,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m here to chat with people and share my knowledge on LGBT history and social issues. We\u2019re here for a whole lot of things and a lot of it relates to creativity, knowledge, and education. So, that\u2019s our purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter\" data-effect=\"slide\"><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_container swiper-container\"><ul class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_swiper-wrapper swiper-wrapper\"><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"790\" height=\"416\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-82293\" data-id=\"82293\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-Out-Day-002.jpg?resize=790%2C416\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-Out-Day-002.jpg?resize=1024%2C539 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-Out-Day-002.jpg?resize=370%2C195 370w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-Out-Day-002.jpg?resize=150%2C79 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-Out-Day-002.jpg?resize=768%2C404 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-Out-Day-002.jpg?w=1488 1488w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">SGA president Kiernan McCarty and vice president Kaz Perkins chat with Alexana Morgan.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"790\" height=\"661\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-82292\" data-id=\"82292\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-Out-Day-003.jpg?resize=790%2C661\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-Out-Day-003.jpg?w=928 928w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-Out-Day-003.jpg?resize=311%2C260 311w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-Out-Day-003.jpg?resize=150%2C125 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-Out-Day-003.jpg?resize=768%2C642 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Academic advisor Katie Lunsford visits McCarty, Perkins and Morgan.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"790\" height=\"322\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-82291\" data-id=\"82291\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-OUt-Day-004.jpg?resize=790%2C322\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-OUt-Day-004.jpg?resize=1024%2C417 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-OUt-Day-004.jpg?resize=370%2C151 370w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-OUt-Day-004.jpg?resize=150%2C61 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-OUt-Day-004.jpg?resize=768%2C313 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-OUt-Day-004.jpg?resize=1536%2C626 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-OUt-Day-004.jpg?w=1890 1890w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Books about LBGTQ+ topics are presented to students.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"781\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-82290\" data-id=\"82290\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-OUt-Day-005.jpg?resize=640%2C781\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-OUt-Day-005.jpg?w=640 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-OUt-Day-005.jpg?resize=213%2C260 213w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-OUt-Day-005.jpg?resize=123%2C150 123w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">GSA sets sets out to connect with members of the LGBTQ+ community on campus and help them feel included.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"790\" height=\"488\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-82289\" data-id=\"82289\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-Out-Day-001.jpg?resize=790%2C488\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-Out-Day-001.jpg?resize=1024%2C633 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-Out-Day-001.jpg?resize=370%2C229 370w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-Out-Day-001.jpg?resize=150%2C93 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-Out-Day-001.jpg?resize=768%2C474 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-Out-Day-001.jpg?w=1282 1282w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">The Gender &#038; Sexuality Alliance operates a table in the Quad.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-prev swiper-button-prev swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-next swiper-button-next swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a aria-label=\"Pause Slideshow\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-pause\" role=\"button\"><\/a><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_pagination swiper-pagination swiper-pagination-white\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>McCarty believes the initiative has succeeded, but more work needs to be done.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSo far, we struggle with student member retention and our officers frequently turn over,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a little hard to get an established structure for our organization, but it\u2019s worked out in the way that I think we\u2019ve established a lot of positive community connections through the work that we do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>McCarty said that overall, the GSA has faced mixed reception from people but has garnered respectful discussion among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere are some people that seek out arguments, and there are people who tend to get people arguing with them,\u201d McCarty said. \u201cFor me, I haven\u2019t had any uncivil discussions. I\u2019ve had some uncomfortable discussions and conversations, mostly just people asking me personal questions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>McCarty also points out that he\u2019s faced situations from within the LBGTQ+ community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve encountered many problems,\u201d he said. &#8220;Sometimes, infighting in the queer community is a problem for us to establish a good structure, but I feel a lot of our problems feel out of our control just because the nature of our identity is being politicized. I would say that also a lot of queer folks in the community tend to be low income, which is a huge problem and presents a lot of barriers for us to get work done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He states that more strides are needed for the community and GSA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s best for us to focus on the problems without our community before so we can support each other,\u201d McCarty said. \u201cThen we can have enough energy to go to the rest of the community and be like, \u2018Hey, guys! We have some cool stuff to offer you.\u2019\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By RORY MOORE Tiger Media Network Fort Hays State University\u2019s Gender and Sexuality Alliance operated a table in the Quad on Friday to promote National&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":82289,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":false,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3397,3398,11],"tags":[14607,12632,953,14460,14828,15700],"class_list":["post-82288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-area-news","category-campus-news","category-news","tag-fhsu-gender-and-sexuality-alliance","tag-fhsu-gsa","tag-gsa","tag-kiernan-mccarty","tag-national-coming-out-day","tag-rory-moore"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Coming-Out-Day-001.jpg?fit=1282%2C792","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=82288"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82295,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82288\/revisions\/82295"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/82289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=82288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=82288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=82288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}