Date: Tue, 10 Sep 1996 00:36:08 -0500 (CDT) From: community Subject: "FOREST OF FREEDOM" - MTSU's NCOD Project --------------------------------------------------------- ------ - - A FOREST OF FREEDOM 1996 - - ----- ------- - - ---------------------------- - - ------ ---- - ------------------------------ - ---- ------------------------------------------- A National Coming Out Day Project at Middle Tennessee State University 1996 OCTOBER 10-11 1996 has proven to be a land mark for the causes of liberty for gay and lesbian Americans. The Supreme Court of Tennessee has decriminalized consentual sex between people of the same gender, the U.S. Supreme Court has over-ruled Colorado's Amendment 2 presenting that the states can no longer deny equal rights to groups of people based on sexual orientation, and the first ever national gay and lesbian political convention centering around the upcoming Presidential Elections crystalized and empowered the gay and lesbian political consciousness. Locally, Middle Tennessee State University Lambda Association, one of MTSU's largest student organizations primarily serving supportive, social, and political programming for the campus's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered population, is now harvesting the rewards of more than a year of activism on the issue of equal protections without regard to sexual orientation. Lambda Association has grown to more than 100 members in the last year. A dynamic group of energized student leaders have helped to bring the charge of a national movement to Tennessee campuses through organized solidarity (www.mtsu.edu/~mtlambda/uec.html). Through these student leader's participation in national and regional conferences as well as workshops in MTSU's Emerging Leaders Institute, the local area benefits while Lambda contributes to an atmosphere of education, tolerance, and inclusion. Celebrating NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY 1996, MTSU Lambda Association presents the first annual FOREST OF FREEDOM. This event is a visual demonstration in the park between the Cope Administration Building and PecK Hall on the campus of MTSU. The walnut trees we will be using in this demonstration were planted from walnuts gathered at the home of this country's first leader George Washington. Numbering more than 60 and standing close to 100 feet tall, they will serve as a canvass as we tie a rainbow of colored ribbons around them, each one representing individuals who are coming out. The nation we live in today we owe a great deal to the ideals fought for by our predecessors: Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. On this day, we join with supports, family, and friends to celebrate this essential American vision of inclusion and to offer a strong voice of support for what makes our country great. WE WANT YOU TO TAKE PART! By sending Lambda Association 2 US Dollars and a message of 50 words or less, we will place a ribbon in the demonstration to represent your voice. Your words will appear on a card to match your ribbon. PROCEEDS will go toward the 6th ANNUAL SOUTHEASTERN LESBIAN, GAY, and BISEXUAL COLLEGE CONFERENCE to be held at MTSU on February 14-16, 1997. Photographs of this events will be made available on our website at http://www.mtsu.edu/~mtlambda PLEASE SEND YOUR SUPPORT TO: Lambda Association MTSU BOX 624 Murfreesboro, TN 37132 CONTACT INFORMATION: 615.780.2293 EMAIL: mtlambda@knuth.mtsu.edu