{"id":85829,"date":"2025-04-07T10:32:27","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T15:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=85829"},"modified":"2025-04-07T10:32:29","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T15:32:29","slug":"gsa-hosts-rainbow-read-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=85829","title":{"rendered":"GSA hosts Rainbow Read-In"},"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>The Fort Hays State University Gender and Sexuality Alliance hosted its annual Rainbow Read-In at the Foundry inside Rarick Hall on Wednesday to spotlight various speakers. Each participant recited writings that shared their experience as LGBTQ+ or allied individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lua Bennight, treasurer for GSA, was the first speaker and began with a PSA-like speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFreedom and equality are beliefs we agree are good and should be protected,\u201d they said. \u201cHow do you ensure freedom for all? Knowledge, organization and planning are the keys to protecting our freedoms and ensuring our community\u2019s safety. Knowing your rights, legislators, local and federal governments is a sure-fire way to protect your and other people\u2019s rights.\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=\"560\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-85836\" data-id=\"85836\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GSA-Read-In-1-of-5.jpg?resize=790%2C560\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GSA-Read-In-1-of-5.jpg?resize=1024%2C726&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GSA-Read-In-1-of-5.jpg?resize=367%2C260&amp;ssl=1 367w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GSA-Read-In-1-of-5.jpg?resize=150%2C106&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GSA-Read-In-1-of-5.jpg?resize=768%2C544&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GSA-Read-In-1-of-5.jpg?resize=700%2C496&amp;ssl=1 700w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GSA-Read-In-1-of-5.jpg?w=1109&amp;ssl=1 1109w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">GSA treasurer Lua Bennight began the Rainbow Read-In with two speeches about freedom, equality and safety.<\/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=\"881\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-85834\" data-id=\"85834\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2-of-5.jpg?resize=790%2C881\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=918%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 918w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=233%2C260&amp;ssl=1 233w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=134%2C150&amp;ssl=1 134w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C857&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=1377%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1377w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=1836%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1836w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2-of-5-scaled.jpg?w=1580 1580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">GSA president Anabeth Ratzlaff&#8217;s speeches were dedicated to discovering orientation and ensuring people&#8217;s access to validating who they are <\/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=\"905\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-85833\" data-id=\"85833\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/3-of-5.jpg?resize=790%2C905\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/3-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=894%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 894w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/3-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=227%2C260&amp;ssl=1 227w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/3-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=131%2C150&amp;ssl=1 131w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/3-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C880&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/3-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=1341%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1341w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/3-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=1788%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1788w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/3-of-5-scaled.jpg?w=1580 1580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">GSA advisor David Macey spoke about coming out when he was younger and how many doors were open to LGTBQ+ members like him. <\/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=\"318\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-85832\" data-id=\"85832\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/4-of-5.jpg?resize=790%2C318\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/4-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C412&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/4-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=370%2C149&amp;ssl=1 370w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/4-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=150%2C60&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/4-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C309&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/4-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C618&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/4-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C825&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/4-of-5-scaled.jpg?w=2370 2370w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">The FHSU Gender and Sexuality Alliance hosts the annual Rainbow Read-In that was for all participants to speak. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"691\" height=\"1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-85831\" data-id=\"85831\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/5-of-5.jpg?resize=691%2C1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/5-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=691%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 691w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/5-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=175%2C260&amp;ssl=1 175w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/5-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=101%2C150&amp;ssl=1 101w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/5-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C1138&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/5-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=1036%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1036w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/5-of-5-scaled.jpg?resize=1382%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1382w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/5-of-5-scaled.jpg?w=1727&amp;ssl=1 1727w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/5-of-5-scaled.jpg?w=1580 1580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 691px) 100vw, 691px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Sociology Senior Administrative Assistant Jessica McGuire reads an excerpt from &#8216;Sister Outsider.&#8217; &#8220;I was going to die sooner or later,&#8221; she recited. &#8220;Whether or not I&#8217;ve spoken myself, my silences had not protected me. Your silences will not protect you. What are the words you do not yet have?&#8221;<\/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>Resistance was a theme Bennight emphasized in their readings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cChoose how you want to resist and when to be heard,\u201d they said. \u201cWhen there is dark, there is light. When there are, there is calm. It seems hard to keep high flows when surrounded by wolves, but remember: change does not start because of a single politician. Change starts with the everyday person. We are the change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>GSA President Anabeth Ratzlaff\u2019s writings focused on discovering orientation during childhood and evolving gender norms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen I was born, I was given a teddy bear I called Teddy,\u201d Ratzlaff said. \u201cTeddy was not him or her. I was struggling to find a word that I felt must exist. Gender and Teddy felt like it would have been something tangible that only I could see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ratzlaff called out people who reject the notion of new terms for gender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe reason these people constantly belittle words that trans and non-binary individuals describe themselves is not because the words are meaningless,\u201d Ratzlaff said. \u201cIt\u2019s because these people find out these words are powerful, and they know their last hope of stalling progress is preventing people from having access to language that vindicates their experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Macey, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences and GSA advisor, highlighted his coming out in his reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen I first came out about 45 years ago, it was a life-long process,\u201d he said. \u201cFor a while, it felt like there weren\u2019t a lot of options. Then, it felt like a lot of doors were opening up, and lately, it feels like people are trying to close some of those doors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He concluded his speech by reading the poem \u2018A Litany for Survival\u2019 by feminist Audre Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFor all of us, this instance and this triumph, we were never meant to survive,\u201d he recited. \u201cWhen the sun rises, we are afraid it might not remain. When the sun sets, we are afraid we might not rise in the morning. When we are alone, we are afraid love will never return. When we are silent, we are still afraid. So, it is better to speak.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By RORY MOORE Tiger Media Network The Fort Hays State University Gender and Sexuality Alliance hosted its annual Rainbow Read-In at the Foundry inside Rarick&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":85832,"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":[3398,11],"tags":[15134,12632,16209,15700],"class_list":["post-85829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-news","category-news","tag-fhsu-gender-sexuality-alliance","tag-fhsu-gsa","tag-rainbow-read-in","tag-rory-moore"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/4-of-5-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1031&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=85829"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85838,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85829\/revisions\/85838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/85832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=85829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=85829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}