Out Of The Shadows VIII

Activists fuel change on campus
Published: October 15, 2007

By DEE MOORE
Of the News-Register 



After finishing her year as president of Fusion, a gay, lesbian and transgender support group at Linfield College, Julianne Oothoudt spent her summer in New Orleans helping residents of the flood-stricken city with their ongoing efforts to rebuild. 


Now a senior, she plans to dedicate her post-graduation life to international service. She wants to make the world a better place. 
Fusion's new president, Sydney Abbott, shares that commitment. She is driven to devote as much of her time as possible to social activism. She, too, wants to make the world a better place. 


Both young women have been involved in the group, which also counts supportive heterosexuals among its membership, since coming to Linfield.

Fusion meshes its efforts with those of Together Works, the larger community's oldest and strongest support group, which came into being more than 20 years ago at McMinnville's First Baptist Church. 


The term "queer" was once the ugliest epithet members of the straight community could hurl at members of the gay community. However, it is a term that has increasingly been embraced by young social activists like Oothoudt and Abbott, particularly on college campuses. 


There are Queer Alliances and Queer Resource Centers hosting Queer Pride Weeks on campuses across the country these days. Even Oregon State University has a Queer Pride Week. 


Abbott sees this as an outgrowth of a growing political movement for equal rights - something akin to the civil rights battles black Americans began mounting in the '50s and '60s. She sees Fusion joining with groups of like mind to seek equal legal and political rights for a coalition representing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered interests under a single umbrella. 


There is a difference in "being equal but different" and simply being "equal," Abbott said. She said she won't rest until she sees the time when the larger society embraces her right to marry the person of her choosing. 


"I try to be as active as I can," she said. 


Abbot said she has plenty of first-hand experience with discrimination. 


She grew up in a conservative church tradition in Arlington, Wash. When she came out, her church, her family and her circle of friends all reacted badly, sending her into a severe depression, she said. 


"It made me so depressed I wanted to kill myself," she said. 


Oothoudt's experience was just the opposite. Her family and friends were very supportive. 


An older sister came to the realization that she was gay, she said, and confronted her about it. But she wasn't ready to come out to her family then, and her sister respected her privacy. 


"I told my parents after my freshman year," Oothoudt said. "I was hesitant and fearful, but they were really wonderfully supportive. My family was really great about it." 


Though she comes from a family with progressive views and liberal attitudes, it was still difficult, she said. She could only imagine how difficult it must have been for someone like Abbot, who faced much more challenging circumstances. 


Oothoudt had been open about her sexuality in high school, but found it more difficult in college. She didn't come out publicly at Linfield until she had told her family. 


Her coming out at college coincided with passage of Measure 36, banning gay marriage in Oregon. And she didn't take that as a good omen in terms of her relationship to the larger society. 


Looking back, Abbot said the impact of her coming out has been "mostly good, sometimes bad."

Oothoudt seconded that assessment, saying, "We've had mixed responses." 


They said members of Fusion have had fliers defaced and cars vandalized. They've also had both epithets and objects hurled their way on occasion. 


That has tested their mettle, they said, but also renewed their determination. They said they are dedicated to making the world a safer place for people of all sexual orientations. 


Abbot said she is committed to continued social activism "because I care too much not to." Struggling to suppress tears, she said, "When someone else hurts, it hurts me." 


She acknowledged the tears, but said they are as much tears of anger as anything else. Whenever her thoughts turn to destitution, poverty and suffering, it brings her to tears, she said. 


If you aren't part of the solution, Abbott said, you're part of the problem. She said she tries to live by the words of Indian peace activist Mahatma Ghandi, who said, "You must be the change you want to see in the world."

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