| Prominent community figures to discuss equality for gays and lesbians |
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| Written by Jonathan Silver, The Shorthorn senior staff | ||||
| Tuesday, 13 October 2009 08:34 PM | ||||
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A UTA professor and a local newspaper owner will join in today on a growing conversation about Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender equality. At the event, sponsored by UTA’s Gay-Straight Alliance chapter, Douglas Klahr will speak about his book The Nature of Prejudice: Thoughts of a Gay, German-American, Jewish Professor. Also, Robert Moore will speak on his work titled “Civil Rights: Then and Now.” Moore is the publisher and owner of Dallas Voice, a weekly newspaper geared toward Dallas’ gay community. Although his specialty is architecture, architecture assistant professor Klahr said his book was more of a personal account on a social issue. His talk will focus on his childhood during the post-World War II era and the persecution of gays under Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany. Klahr said he would also talk about his coming-out during a time when the Holocaust and Nazism were a consistent conversation in his house. “It’s a pretty dark and dramatic presentation,” he said. Alliance President Joshua Little said because National Coming-Out Day was Sunday, he wanted to extend on the celebration by maintaining awareness about LGBT rights. At the talk, Little will begin the lecture with a reading of a fellow alliance members’ coming-out story, then introduce the speakers and end the program with them answering about five questions for about 10 minutes each. The event is scheduled for noon and might go more than the allotted one-hour time frame, Little said. Klahr gave the same presentation two years ago at the Central Library. GSA adviser John Hillas said a large crowd attended when Klahr spoke and Wednesday’s gathering in the University Center Rosebud Theatre won’t be a modest one. “They’ve done a great job of spreading awareness about the group’s existence and bringing people to meetings,” he said. Klahr said he will also draw a line between the Nazi persecution of gays and the Matthew Shepard case. Shepard was a University of Wyoming student targeted for being gay and was subsequently kidnapped, robbed, tortured, tied to a fence and left. He died later in a Colorado hospital from head injuries. Homophobia is a more acceptable form of prejudice than any other expressed opposition, Klahr said. “It shows the potential for anyone to be a murderer based on prejudice, and it’s frightening,” he said. “Because gay people are still getting murdered for being gay, giving this talk again is necessary.” Equal rights campaigns have sprung out across the country including a National Equality March on Sunday held on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C. Views: 354 | E-mail
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 27 January 2010 03:35 PM ) | ||||
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