Fort Smith Four
Covering Local News and Local Issues
Taking Pride in Pride: A Profile of Layn Pigeon
Carol Ann Seahorn
September 28, 2015
[Because Layn is aligned with gender neutrality, this piece uses the gender neutral pronouns Ze (s/he and Zir (his/her)]
Throughout Pride’s on-again-off-again presence at UAFS, the perseverance of its members is what keeps the flickering organization going. The leadership of its current President, Layn Pigeon, has kept the group a small but stable part of the UAFS campus for two years. Managing to find time in zir full schedule; Early Childhood Education classes, SkillsUSA practice, church activity, and working part-time at the Fort Smith Public Library, ze was able to multitask for a Facebook interview and share zir story.
Layn’s acceptance of zirself has been an ongoing journey; although ze knew from the beginning something was different, ze truly realized it in 4th grade. Like many young LGBT children, Layn refused self-acceptance because of the fear of family reaction. Zir religion also added to the struggle, the Southern Baptist faith is not particularly warm to LGBT lifestyles. Layn slowly came out to family and friends as a lesbian in high school. Zir girlfriend at the time, unbeknownst to zir, posted about their relationship while ze was in Chicago for a band trip. “That outed me to pretty much everyone else,” Layn reminisced. As ze progresses through college, Layn identifies most with lesbianism and gender fluidity. Gender fluid is a gender identity; a GF person may feel more male some days, female other days, or more androgynous. Layn brings zir hardships and acceptance to Pride as a way to connect with other members and lead the group.
Layn became president after the former official was removed from office. During the election, Layn ran against two other nominees, but after they both dropped after hearing zir speech, Layn was the default winner. Unless the members decide to hold reelections, Layn will remain president until graduation.
Layn was the active president during the group’s name change from Gay-Straight Alliance to Pride. The change was to provide inclusion of all sexualities; not just gay or straight. Pride not only keeps to thecampus lion motif but also gives the sense of support that the group offers. Layn explains, “[we] want you to come to a safe place if you need one and just allow you to be proud of yourself, and see that others believe in you too.”
Layn considers zir greatest contribution to be the inclusion of every voice. Most members of Pride are the quiet kids of the class; the students that are afraid of being labeled as an outcast when asked for their opinion. But in Pride, under Layn’s leadership, the members are encouraged to let down any mental barriers and participate. Layn has also established an educational meet-and-greet during the first few meetings of the semester. Members not only introduce themselves with the standard name and major, but also may choose to give their
“letter” in the LGBT alphabet. This semester of Pride alone has educated members about gay, lesbian, bi, trans, ally, asexual, pansexual, polyamorous, and gender fluidity aspects. Diversity is what keeps Pride a unique social group to UAFS and promotes acceptance from the inside to out.
Retention of members has Layn’s upmost concern. It’s been an ongoing struggle for Pride to keep enough members to create and participate in events to bring in new people. Support group meetings do help many students but may become too serious and leave them wanting more fun. Another issue is bringing in people that haven’t openly come out. Pride does discreetly serve anyone that needs LGBT related support but those members can’t participate in larger, open events. Layn most recently wrapped up nominations for Homecoming event participation. Ze reigned in the wild enthusiasm to two events to keep realistic goals for the group.
When asked what Pride’s end goal should be, Layn has set an attainable standard: “…I want people to know that we're here on campus. To bring people around on the idea of who we are, and maybe change some of their ideals. We exist, we're here, and we want to be a part of this community as ourselves.”
Layn knows ze will always be present in the LGBT community. After graduation ze would like to pursue librarian work which may present the chance to sponsor zir own Gay-Straight Alliance at a school. Ze knows ze will
participate in any local LGBT event such as parades or events sponsored by the River Valley Equality Center.
Pride meets every Wednesday at 3 PM in Gardner 138. Support group takes place at the end of every meeting. The group’s sponsors are Lory Conrad and Susan Whitlow.