Rice students reach out for Pride Houston

Rice students reach out for Pride Houston
Students’ projects to be featured in Pride celebration

BY JESSICA STARK
Rice News staff

As Pride Houston celebrates its 30th anniversary, students from Rice University will help commemorate the achievements of the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community by featuring work in the Pride History display June 11-28 at the Washington Mutual Bank on the corner of Richmond Avenue and Montrose Boulevard.

As part of a class offered through the Center for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality (CWGS), the students engaged in a semester-long community research project in which they interviewed people throughout the LGBT community. Each student then presented “their person” to the class, and now, through the history display, the students will introduce them to Houston, using videos, sound clips and PowerPoint presentations. The students’ work will also be featured on KPFT radio’s “Queer Voices” later in June.

“The results of the students’ projects are quite varied and interesting,” said Brian Riedel, CWGS lecturer. “Some students see it as a chance to really get to know a community member; others see it as an opportunity to explore an issue to which that person is attached.”

This semester’s work is a continuation of a long-range interview-gathering project begun in 2007 to document the contributions of community members who do not necessarily “make big waves.” The project also is designed to deepen the connections between Rice and the community it serves and to enrich the foundation for a bigger project — Riedel is working on a book-length history of the Montrose neighborhood.

Common thread

The featured work will include presentations on Anita Renteria, Fred Walters, Jonathan Palmer, Brad Odom, Eva Thibaudeau-Graczyk, Lilly Roddy and Suzanne Anderson.

“I felt a common thread among the people interviewed was that all of them were successful and had put forth a great deal of time and energy into the Houston — and some national — LGBT cause,” said Clara Tse, Will Rice College junior.

COURTESY PHOTO
From left, Joanna Jan, Iris Chu and Clara Tse interviewed Fred Walters for their project, which will be featured in the Houston Pride celebration.

Tse and her group interviewed Fred Walters, a founder of the Houston Buyers Club. Initially, they had planned to focus on reconciling faith with sexuality, as Walters had originally wanted to become a priest. However, they went another direction when they learned that Walters is HIV-positive and looking to open a vitamin store for those with HIV.

“The main finding of my group’s research was that AIDS was far from a manageable disease,” Tse said. “Especially since HIV is prevalent and destructive to the gay community, there cannot be enough awareness education and research done.”

Tse saw similarities in the challenges Walters faced and the other people her classmates interviewed.

“They went through common things like realizing that they were different from an early age, coming out when they were adults and joining some sort of LGBT grassroots organizations,” Tse said.

Breaking down stereotypes

Darren Arquero, a Wiess College sophomore, found commonalities between Walters and the person he researched, Jonathan Palmer, an eclectic and “out” expressionist artist.

“At least for me, Palmer came across in all of his promotional material as if he did not want people to know of his sexuality,” Arquero said. “This, I would find out, was a direct opposite of how he was in person.”

Arquero said Palmer was welcoming and appreciated the opportunity to talk about his work. He didn’t go in-depth answering many personal questions but was down-to-earth.

“Through my interview with Jonathan, I was able to get a different perspective on the LGBT community as well as learn more about myself in the process,” Arquero said.

Arquero, who is gay and the only male on the Rice cheerleading team, said he sympathized with many of the hardships Palmer has weathered.

“Although Rice overall has a very accepting and supportive atmosphere for its LGBT population, the greater Houston area is just coming to terms with the growing population,” Arquero said. “I honestly believe that the stigma associated with the word ‘gay’ and the negative images that come along with that will not go away for a long time. But by showcasing some successful LGBT individuals within the community, it is one step closer to breaking down stereotypes that once existed.”