Gay marriage has been a big ticket issue is the past few elections and has been thrown all through social media. John Carroll is looking at this issue and promoting education about equality for everyone, despite sexuality orientation. About 10 years ago, John Carroll formed a group that decided on a name that would make that mission known. Allies was created with the idea that we are allies on campus to support everyone around us, including the LGBT community. “We want to make a change around campus and promote love, education, and tolerance,” says Jillian Falzini.
Since the organization was formed, those involved have done many activities on campus such as a crayon art night. However, a few weeks ago, some of the members decided to really get their message of human rights for everyone known. They also wanted to bring students together by showing those in the LGBT community that the student body supports their mission. To do this, Allies recently created a campaign called Be the Chain(ge). Last week, the students in Allies sat in the atrium with strips of paper to make a “chain” to show support of equal love and treatment of all students. The students got the idea after watching the movie Milk, a film that explains the story of the first openly gay elected city supervisor. This movie gave them the inspiration to give the students on John Carroll’s campus a welcoming environment to be more open about coming out and supporting those who do.
Some might think this is impossible on a Jesuit campus, and there are some issues on the campus with understanding equality when it comes to sexuality. However, freshman Mary Frances McGowen has hope. “There is still some friction on campus with LGBT rights, but that gives our organization a higher sense of purpose. The lack of support makes my passion for equality strong. The fight for love a battle worth fighting.” Building the chain was Allies’s way of showing everyone that there is a strong bond of advocates on campus who support human rights, love, and diversity. Diversity is one value that a Jesuit education wants to promote, so Allies took its opportunity to show how to boost the idea of loving everyone, despite our differences.
The club hung the chain in the Atrium on Thursday and Friday to show the amount of people on campus who are behind their mission for equal treatment for everyone. It is a slow process, but with activities such as this one, people will become more aware and realize how much equal treatment means to those in the LGBT community. Allies promotes that no matter what your sexual orientation is, you deserve to love who you love and be with who you want. As Macklemore once sang “I might not be the same, but that’s not important. No freedom ’til we’re equal.”