OUTmedia's
"BE QUEER, BUY QUEER!"
INTERNATIONAL VIDEO CONTEST

in partnership with Campus Pride

WIN $10,000
in FREE OUTmedia Entertainment for Your Campus

LEARN MORE

In partnership with Campus Pride, OUTmedia is seeking college students throughout the world to submit original videos on the theme,“Be Queer, Buy Queer!”

Slams,rants, stand up, sketch, music frenzy, spicy splicing are all welcome.We want you to speak boldly, and outrageously on the vision, expressed by OUTmedia’s Founder, Shelly Weiss, “care about where you spend your every dime, invest in the businesses that believe and invest in you.Build your queer vision of your future, with what and where you buy today!”

Submit your own video responding to concept of "Be Queer Buy Queer," with a friend,your LGBTQQIA campus group, or run wild with your entire campus community! Present in video form "What Does Be Queer Buy Queer Mean To You?"

PRIZE: One winner will receive $10,000 in OUTmedia entertainment* and the opportunity to host the First Annual OUTmedia Queer Campus Culture Fest! at their university --hosted by Kit Yan and being developed for TVairing.

An additional prize of a performance by one OUTmedia artist will be given to the school with the most number of registered voters.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: Submissions will be accepted through April 15, 2010, voting from April16-29, 2010 -- and the winner announced at the culmination of Diversity Month on April 30, 2010.

Civil rights leader and highly-acclaimed furniture designer Mitchell Gold
to speak about his book CRISIS and the toll based bigotry

Charlotte, NC, Tuesday, Jan 19, 2010 – The national, Charlotte-based Campus Pride (www.campuspride.org) and local Time Out Youth (www.Time Out Youth.org) have partnered for a joint fundraising event on Thursday, Feb 25 to bring attention to lesbian,gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and ally youth in the Charlotte area.The fundraiser will take place at 6 p.m. at Myers Park Baptist Church(1900 Queens Road) and then continue at 8 p.m. at Petra’s Piano Bar(1919 Commonwealth Avenue). No tickets are necessary; however, donations are encouraged.

Titled “Believe In Youth,” the one night only event will feature civil rights leader and author Mitchell Gold and his book "CRISIS: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay In America." A resident of Hickory, NC, Gold is a nationally recognized leader in the furniture industry as well as the founder of Faith In America, a national nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness of the harm caused to LGBT Americans by religion-based bigotry and prejudice.

Gold has been honored nationally for his work and most recently in 2009 received a "Visionary Award" from the Stonewall Foundation in New York for his work with Faith in America and for publishing his recent book CRISIS. The book has been hailed as an important tool for understanding the immense harm to LGBT people when prejudice, discrimination and violence toward them is given moral and religious approval.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT OF CAMPUS PRIDE!
HAPPY HOLIDAY & NEW YEAR!

Campus Pride wishes you a JOYOUS HOLIDAY & NEW YEAR! There are still days left before the New Year. Help Campus Pride continue our valuable work supporting LGBT and Ally college students and helping colleges and universities become more LGBT-friendly.

Campus Pride has a HOLIDAY GIFT CHALLENGE of $10,000 -- we are asking YOU to consider making a $10 or $25 gift right now online. PLEASE HELP US REACH OUR GOAL! DONATE ONLINE NOW.

DONATE ONLINE

Washington Post, Friday, December 11, 2009
Campus Pride Executive Director
Shane Windmeyer

As quoted:

For decades, public and private universities have grappled with how to support gay students and protect them from verbal or physical attacks. Religious schools also have the challenge of upholding church teachings, such as the Catholic stance that it is not sinful to be attracted to someone of the same sex but it is sinful to act on such desires.

This delicate balance often puts gay students in a “conflicted state of acceptance,” said Shane L. Windmeyer, executive director of Campus Pride, a national organization that helps colleges assess their gay friendliness. “The church wants to love the person and hate the sin. But what does that really mean?”

So visible support for gay students — such as a resource center, rainbow stickers, club tables and awareness weeks — is especially important at religious schools, he said. But such actions do not change campus attitudes overnight, he said.

Read the Article

We have come to MARCH!
One Message: Full Equality under the Law!

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I am constantly reminded when I visit colleges in the South how much work there is to be done. But I also forget how much change is happening across the nation -- even in the South.

Yesterday Campus Pride was at the University of Louisiana Lafayette. I delievered my program "What's Your Gay Point Average?" This was the first national program of its kind brought to campus -- over 200+ students attended -- not bad, huh? It was one of the many featured events during National Coming Out Month. Earlier in the day I spent time with several students and also did a workshop for the Resident Life Assistants. One of the things that I learned through the RA session is that 75% of the RAs had a family member who was LGBT and similarly 75% also had a "best friend" who was LGBT. Not surprisingly, all but a few had experienced or witnessed LGBT harassment in some form.

I share this because indeed LGBT youth are the future and change is happening. And even in the South, I find young adults who are impacted positively by "best friends" and family who are out as LGBT. This National Coming Out Day use your voice to come out to family and loved ones. Change is happening not because of politicians, athletes or celbrities coming out -- but rather our personal relationships with those we love.

Happy National Coming Out Day!

Congratulations to University of Louisiana Lafayette for a successful NCOM! Keep up your hard work! Plus, I enjoyed eating fried alligator and meeting all of you! Check out a photo from the swamp on campus -- GEAUX RAGIN CAJUNS!

REGISTER NOW

Campus Pride invites you to join us on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 2 p.m. EST for a webinar titled "What's Your Campus Climate: Supporting LGBT & Ally Students." The webinar was scheduled during National Coming Out Week as a way for campus communities to bring visibility to LGBT concerns and to gear up for the historic National Equality March on Sunday, October 11th, 2009.

Now you can learn if your campus is doing everything it should to actively support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) students within your campus community. Today, more than ever, your campus has the responsibility to implement LGBT-inclusive policies, programs and practices to encourage a safe, welcoming place for all students to learn, live and grow.

Take the opportunity to use this LIVE CAMPUSPEAK CONNECT webinar to re-energize, mobilize and connect students, faculty, staff and administrators on your campus to create change. Please join us for this exciting opportunity.

Lead with PRIDE,

Shane Windmeyer
Founder & Executive Director
Campus Pride

Should it matter who I love?

Contributed by Elizandra Martinez, President of Eros (Gay-Straight Alliance) and Active Minds (Mental Health Advocacy) at
Regis University, Denver, CO

Dominique de Menil said, “What should move us to action is human dignity: the inalienable dignity of the oppressed, but also the dignity of each of us. We lose dignity if we tolerate the intolerable.”

My senior year in high school started strong. I was captain for varsity athletics in basketball and soccer and was looking to lead my teams further than the previous seasons. I also had the opportunity to serve my school as Student Body President, and I was tied for first academically in my class. My senior year all changed in the matter of months. Many can’t wait until their 18th birthday, but I was one of those who were dreading it. After that day, my life would be forever changed. Now that I was considered an adult, the parents of the girl that I was in a relationship with now had the law on their side. Her parents took the matter to the school and told the administrators that we were not allowed to have contact. We happened to be on the same basketball team, so of course we would talk. After we had contact the administration told me that I disobeyed authority. Over the course of the next two months I was suspended from school, got kicked off my sports teams, had a suicide attempt and spent a night in jail due to a mutual restraining order violation (which was dismissed), all because I was a lesbian. Then the school took my responsibilities of student body president away they said, “we cannot have someone like you leading our school.”

I am not alone in experiencing a desire to die from the pain that intolerance causes.

Did you know?

Campus Pride works so hard every year to put together an awesome camp for LGBT & Ally college students from across the nation. This year (the third year) we had over 50 students in attendance and 20 faculty/student leader volunteers. Plus, we had a dozen student ambassadors from our camp host Towson University. So amazing, so much work! So much FUN!

As you might imagine, I am exhausted from a week of learning, action and friendships. Plus, I forget how uncomfortable a residence hall bed can be for five nights. So for now I am just going to share some pictures below.

Thank you to everyone who made camp possible this year – our stellar volunteers, corporate sponsors, individual donors, faculty, pride leaders, planning team and staff of Towson University – GO CAMP! Learn more online at www.campuspride.org/camp.asp