This past week ASUW held a reading for the Senate Resolution #2539, authored by ASUW Vice President Tyler Wolfgang, which was a resolution about being able to fly the LGBTQ flag annually during the pride month of June.
When I first heard about this resolution, I was really excited about it. I have been an ally for years now and it makes me happy to hear that there are opportunities for the LGBTQ community to be represented. However, this resolution was killed and will not be coming to fruition, and that upsets me. I definitely admire Wolfgang for authoring this resolution and for ASUW taking the action they did this past summer after the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando.
I have been working in the student resource centers for two and a half years now, with the majority of my time being spent in the Rainbow Resource Center (RRC). I remember hearing the terrible news of the Pulse shooting and being pleasantly surprised when Wolfgang reached out to the RRC with his remarks and what ASUW had planned to honor the victims.
It was at that moment that I actually felt like a minority group was being represented by our student government. This feeling was reiterated when I heard about this resolution. Being a part of a college community, it is important to understand that there are many diverse populations amongst us that deserve to be acknowledged and represented.
Asking to fly a pride flag during the month of June seems so simple to me. In Wolfgang’s statement about the resolution he made it clear that the pride flag would not be flown over the American, State of Wyoming or University of Wyoming flags on the flagpole, but it seemed like not everyone understood that.
While I understand the issues that would come with replacing the American flag and I am also against that, this was not the request Wolfgang brought to the table. Some people may have interpreted what was being requested as taking precedence over the American flag and perhaps that is why we will not see something as progressive as the pride flag being flown happen anytime soon.
Given the struggles minority groups have had to and will continue to face as the years go on, it breaks my heart that something as simple as showing support for the LGBTQ community during the month of June will not be allowed on our campus.
I hope that as a community we see these issues and we start to recognize them so that we can build a stronger environment for everyone to be included in. This does not just apply to the LGBTQ community, but to all of the marginalized communities on campus.
If we all took the time to step back and try to see the big picture of where someone is coming from with something like Resolution #2539, we might be able to achieve a more inclusive community.
