“It’s difficult - to have one family member who supports you and another one who really doesn’t,” said Marmon, 21, a Temple College student from Rogers. “The holidays are always a little bit different. It’s like the elephant in the room - I’m gay.”
Marmon is the president of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual student group, the True Colors Coalition at TC.
“Things around the holidays definitely aren’t like they were before I came out,” said Marmon, who said his dad, a minister, is less supportive of his sexuality than his mom, who disagrees with it, but still offers support. “I don’t talk to my dad about my (sexuality). It’s just something we don’t discuss because he opposes it.”
High school wasn’t much easier for Marmon, who said he hadn’t come forward as a homosexual yet (he came out publicly when he was 18) to people other than his close friends.
“I mean, I would never hear someone say something to my face, but as I was leaving the room sometimes I’d hear people say things like ‘fag.’”
Marmon said there isn’t much of a support group in Bell County for homosexuals, so he, along with another student decided to create True Colors on campus toward the end of the fall semester last year.
“There really aren’t any resources or social sciences locally that are gay friendly,” said Marmon, who mentioned that there is a group called the Gay Straight Alliance of Central Texas, based out of Central Texas College and Tarleton State University, that caters to the gay community.
“We wanted to form a group that students could join to help educate themselves and the people around them about sexuality issues,” Marmon said. “It’s not just for homosexuals or bisexuals, we allow everyone to participate, including straight students.”
Since forming, the group has held an open microphone event on campus, where students read poetry, sang songs or told jokes. The group helped facilitate a successful clothing drive during the month of April, where they collected more than 2,100 items for the Salvation Army and the St. Vincent de Paul Society Store.
“I think it’s important to have some place where you can go and feel wanted,” said True Colors secretary Jomi Erickson, 20, of Belton, a bisexual. “I think a lot of times the public looks at bisexuals as people who can’t make their mind up. They just don’t understand that a person can be attracted to both men and women.”
She said that’s why this group is important.
“We talk about those issues during our meetings,” Erickson said. “We talk about how there are marriage issues and issues of double standard … how some people are OK with the idea of lesbians, but not with gay men.”
Vice president Keith Williams says the group has about 15 active members who show up during meetings, but they receive inquiries from interested students on a daily basis.
“A lot of people have sent us e-mails asking about when we meet,” he said. “It’s usually positive, but when we first started, sometimes we got some nasty messages.
“We just want the community to accept”
Williams, who’s originally from Philadelphia, said he hoped the group would continue to grow, and branch out with the other area alliance.
“We’re going to continue to try to do what we’ve been doing with things like the clothing drive and help out the community,” he said.
